


Twiceborn: Second Bloom

by thatdamnuchiha



Series: Twiceborn [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, Crack, Curses, Dimension Travel, F/F, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Fuuinjutsu Master Sakura, Good Uchiha Madara, Good Uchiha Obito, Haruno Sakura-centric, Hashirama finds the whole thing hilarious, Hiruzen is glad he retired, Itachi is not impressed, Izuna is chill, Kamui - Freeform, Konoha is not prepared, Kushina is proud, M/M, Madara-sensei, Mangekyou Sharingan, Minato would like to retire now please, Mokuton, Mokuton User Haruno Sakura, Namikaze Minato Lives, Neither is Madara, No Uchiha Massacre, Prank Wars, Sakura breaks the village, Sakura ends up in the Twiceborn Universe, Sakura joins them, Sasuke and Naruto are pranking buddies, Sharingan, She Blames Naruto For This, She was meant to go back to their timeline, Shisui is a bad influence, Shisui is an enabler, Slightly Overpowered Sakura (by the end), Slow Burn, Somehow It's Always His Fault, Somewhat, Strong Haruno Sakura, This is seriously AU, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Tobirama Is Not Amused, Twiceborn, Uchiha Izuna Lives, Uchiha Shisui Lives, Uzumaki Kushina Lives, and I mean like seriously, and she uses it for pranking, but failed miserably, canon? what's that?, slowest of slow burns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2019-10-12 00:24:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17457125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatdamnuchiha/pseuds/thatdamnuchiha
Summary: Dimension-Travelling Sakura in the Twiceborn Universe.Chaos ensues.





	1. A Shift in the Leaves

**Author's Note:**

> Sees picture of Madara as Team Seven's sensei...
> 
> Must write...
> 
> Anyway, this book was written in the 'Twiceborn-verse' which means there are a few things different to canon - hence the 'This is seriously AU' tag. This book and the others set in this verse, were all sort of inspired by a phrase/song titled 'See What I've Become', in reference to Konoha and the Founders - the idea that they're stuck there through one means or another to slowly see what their village will become, and I get to think about how much their presence would affect the world.
> 
> I hope this clears up any confusion that has/may come in regards to the timeline.
> 
> Additionally, if you're wondering about the relationship tags, especially that first one, most of those relationships are going to be ridiculously slow burn. Pay attention to the tag titled 'Curses' too, it's there for a reason, and describes why the Founders are there and unaging. Don't be expecting any romance in this for the first part -- once I get that far with the writing, I'll probably break this up into two parts, focusing before and after a certain event I have planned -- so please preferably don't ask me how I'm going to make that tag work. I have a plan, and I think it's a fairly decent one which will make the whole relationship seem as natural as possible. Yes, there is an age gap, and if you are uncomfortable with that, then feel free to leave. In some ways, I figure this is similar to those Vampire AUs with the ridiculous age gaps... but people for the most part seem to think those are OK.
> 
> I'm fairly uncomfortable with writing teacher/student relationships, so this is me pushing myself out of my comfort zone a bit. However, being me, I've drawn the line somewhere. Sakura will be an adult by the time she gets interested in any sort of romance. Sure, there may be attraction to different older people and sudden awareness when puberty rolls around, but I figure that's sort of natural-ish and can be viewed as harmless. In the begining, make no mistake, Madara sees Sakura as a child ergo no romance, so if he decides that she's his favourite student, it's purely because she causes him the least amount of headaches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is the second work in the lil Twiceborn Series I have going on, and I absolutely love writing Sakura fics so this is the first of many in which she'll break the universe in some way or another.

Sakura blinked.

Her reflection stayed the same – a short, fluffy-haired pinkette, with large jade green eyes which almost looked too big for her face. Something was wrong, but she couldn’t quite tell what. She bit her lip, stepping closer to the mirror propped up against the wall. This was going to bug her until she figured it out, she knew. _Curse those damned shinobi instincts._ They were clearly the ones responsible, though Sakura doubted she could really complain. Instincts were what kept people alive. They’d kept her alive for the last few years before…

_Naruto…_

Tears welled up in her eyes, her hands curling into fists. She’d save them. She’d save them all. Just like she promised Obito before Kaguya had torn him apart. It was an oath she swore to herself, and it was one she’d keep. Obito had used every last drop of his chakra to get her to where she was, so she was going to make the most of every single second of it.

Red flickered in her vision, her eyes snapping to face the mirror, jaw clenching when she spotted them. Two eyes like rubies, three tomoe spinning about lazily inside them. She pulled at her face, peering ever closer in the mirror. “Obito… what the hell did you do?!” she hissed, stumbling back. This wasn’t part of the plan. She wasn’t supposed to have the sharingan. _How the hell was she supposed to explain that?_

More importantly, though, _how the hell was she supposed to turn it off?_

She was two-years-old, and what’s more, she had the chakra reserves of a two-year-old – barely more than a handful. The strain was already becoming horribly apparent, her legs shaking as she stood there, willing her body to do something. “Turn off you stupid things!” she muttered, slamming her palms into her eyes, which admittedly wasn’t her best plan. Blindly reaching for her chakra, she fumbled for control, eyes widening when she threw more chakra into the spinning sharingan. “Damn you, Obito,” she hissed, staring wide eyed as the tomoe morphed into a far too familiar shape – that of a pinwheel. “I don’t want to go blind.”

Her grasp on her chakra tightened, and she yanked it back into its core, snapping the connection to her eyes. Red receded, replaced by black, Sakura breathing a sigh of relief, sagging back against the nearest wall, exhausted. The sharingan crisis had been averted, though she was never supposed to have one. Obito had to have messed something up.

Either that or his chakra had somehow warped her own on the way back.

It was possible, she mused, clinging to the strands of hope she still had left. She’d be able to get closer to Sasuke… maybe even prevent him from leaving, since she was _technically_ family. Sakura swallowed. That was right. She was two, which meant the Uchiha Massacre hadn’t happened just yet. Her heart leapt. Maybe she’d be able to prevent the whole angsty-Sasuke disaster by heading it off at its source. Then again, she’d probably have to keep the whole sharingan situation under wraps.

She did not want to get killed in the massacre, should there be one. _She could change things. She had that chance now, and the foreknowledge of what was really going on in the deepest, darkest parts of Konoha._

“Sakura, honey?” A soft knock came at her door, her mother’s voice floating through it. “Are you alright in there?”

“Fine, kaa-chan!” she sung, alarmed at how easily she was falling into a child’s persona. Not only that, but her voice was horribly high-pitched, and she squeaked a lot. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

Sakura scowled, eyeing herself once more in the mirror. _How was she going to explain her eyes?_ She bit her lip, almost drawing blood as she played with the handle of the door. It was going to be tricky. Her whole situation would be… _but she couldn’t back down just yet._ She pulled at the handle, toddling out of her room on oddly shaky legs. It was going to take some getting used to. Her limbs were far smaller than what she was used to, her view of the world drastically limited by the fact that she didn’t even reach hip-height.

Plastering a wide smile on her face, she ran down the stairs with all the enthusiasm she could muster – which was a fair bit, considering she hadn’t seen her parents in years. “Kaa-chan! Tou-chan!” she yelled, sprinting into the room where her father sat behind the table. “Look! Look! My eyes changed colour!” she shouted, tugging at the fabric of her father’s trousers, playing the cute-adorable-toddler-act to the max. _Acting like a clueless child wouldn’t attract that much suspicion…_ “They’re so pretty now, aren’t they?”

Blue eyes glanced down at her, widening slightly when they caught sight of her new black ones. “Sa-chan!” her father said, lifting her into the air with ease, setting her down on his knee, just like how she remembered. “Looks like they’ve gone from jade to onyx,” he mumbled. “But Sa-chan’s eyes are still the prettiest!”

The sound of a throat clearing behind the pair had them pausing, jade green eyes glaring down.

“Your eyes are beautiful too, dear?” Kizashi said, smiling sheepishly.

“Sakura, honey, let me see,” Mebuki ordered, crouching down in front of her, jade green eyes peering into her newly onyx ones.

Silently, Sakura mourned the loss of her green eyes. They’d been nice – she liked them but seeing as Obito had messed up the jutsu somewhat, she was going to have to get used to seeing those Uchiha black orbs whenever she looked in a mirror.

If that wouldn’t be a reminder and a half about what she’d been through she didn’t know what would be.

_A single dull black eye staring at her—“Live, Sakura.”—air rustling, and then she was nowhere near Kaguya—safe—at the cost of his life._

“I’ll take her to see a med-nin once all the heat from this damn incident has died down,” her mother said, making Sakura’s ears twitch.

_What incident?_

“She seems fine, don’t you, Sa-chan?” Her father grinned. “You’re just really excited for today, aren’t you?”

“You’re still taking her to the park?” Mebuki bit her lip, worried eyes peering down into her extremely confused ones. “After everything that’s happened with the company?”

Sakura blinked. Since when were her parents involved in a company? Her father was a merchant, and her mother was a baker.

Her shinobi instincts flared again.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

She intended to find out just what. Subtly, of course. A ninja was subtle… unless they were Naruto. Smiling slightly as she thought of her idiotic blonde, she sighed. Maybe she’d have a chance to meet him even earlier in her new timeline.

A savage grin pulled at her lips. Yes. She’d do just that, and then prank the living daylights out of everyone who was mean to him. Her Naruto had taught her well when it came to Pranking 101. Slugs in beds, dango syrup in hair, painting the Hokage faces… anything went. A small giggle escaped her lips, sounding oddly high-pitched and generally evil on the whole as she thought about the hell she could unleash on her village.

Konoha would never know what’d hit it.

 

::

 

Elsewhere in the village, a certain blonde wearing a red Kage hat shivered in apprehension. He had the strangest feeling something was about to happen – something of the pranking variety. His wife and son loved them far too much.

No doubt he’d have to be the one to clear things up afterwards.

 

::

 

Meanwhile Sakura was in a dilemma, a very problematic one too.

Thinking and plotting pranks was all well and good… but… _How was she meant to get her hands on pranking supplies?_ she mused, staring at the supply shop in front of her. It was strange how easily she was growing accustomed to being back. Back in the village, back in her two-year-old body, back in the world before Kaguya had destroyed it. A strange giddiness had set in, and she felt oddly free, rather than the intense pressure she’d expected. Everyone was depending on her… and yet there she was, going about her day to day life as per usual. Perhaps her underdeveloped mind couldn’t fully process things, or maybe the realisation of it all hadn’t set in.

Sakura bit her lip.

“What’s wrong, Sa-chan?” her father asked, smiling down at her widely, seemingly oblivious to all the dirty glares being thrown their way. Something was off, she knew that much. Never before had she seen _this_ level of resentment being thrown at her parents. It wasn’t as bad as what she knew had been thrown Naruto’s way in the past, but still…

“Tou-chan…” she mumbled, staring determinedly at the storefront, blocking out the hustle and bustle of the crowd around them. “If I asked you to get me pranking supplies, what would you say?”

Five minutes later, she had her answer, in the form of shopping bags filled with all the supplies she’d asked for.

“Treat it as an early birthday present, Sa-chan,” he mumbled, seating her safely atop his shoulders as they wandered back home. “Though I do hope you won’t use these on us…”

“Nah.” She shook her head. “Got somebody else in mind for all of that.”

Kizashi roared with laughter, earning the ire of a few passing civilians. At least Sakura assumed them to be civilians. Their footsteps were awfully loud, _like they were begging for Kaguya to come and squash them like bugs_. She nuzzled into her father’s spiky hair, pushing that thought to one side. _Kaguya was gone. She was safe, and she had a lot of pranks to plan._ “So my little Sa-chan is a bit of a prankster… seems like you take after dear ol’ dad a bit more than just the pink hair.”

Sakura grinned.

“No doubt you’ll be joining forces with the Namikaze boy and his friend soon,” he mumbled, adjusting his grip on her as they made their way down the street. “Just don’t tell your mother, kay?”

Sakura froze, blinking as she registered what her father had said. “Namikaze?”

“The Hokage’s son, silly,” her father said, oblivious to her impending headache which was no doubt on its way. _Why would Naruto have his father’s surname?_

Her head snapped around, searching for answers, eyes fixing on the Hokage monument before heart clenched painfully in her chest. _No. No. No. No. This couldn’t be happening._ Black eyes widened, staring at the faces carved into the mountainside. Obito hadn’t just sent her spiralling back in time. Oh no. He’d sent her spiralling into a completely different dimension too.

_Goddammit Obito!_

That second face carved into the rockface was all too familiar to her – she’d fought against him before Black Zetsu had betrayed him and unleashed his mother on all of them. Well, the ones who were left, and those had been precious few.

The Nidaime in whatever mad world she’d landed in wasn’t Senju Tobirama.

No.

Instead it had been Uchiha Madara.

Her brain felt like it had ground to a halt, an odd wave of calm acceptance coming over her, along with the overwhelming urge to giggle like her life depended on it. She could scream and punch things later, maybe let loose a bit, but the fact remained – she was stuck in a weird alternate dimension in her two-year-old body, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. _Nothing._ She’d researched into space-time ninjutsu, looking into fuinjutsu and other sources alongside Obito. She knew that fact was undeniable. Evidently, they’d forgotten to ensure the space-stamp had been correctly calibrated, and if there was one thing she knew it was that there was no way back. The sheer amount of chakra it would take… They’d only managed it because she’d spent years building up chakra into her seal and the makeshift chakra containers Naruto had managed to complete before his death. The amount they’d had to pump in to activate the seal to send her to wherever the hell she’d ended up was comparable to that of Kurama’s own. Possibly even more.

She was stuck.

Hysterical laughter broke out, the sobs stuck in the back of her throat.

Team Seven always had the worst luck.

Sakura grinned wistfully, heart panging as she thought of her idiots. _She’d never see them again in her new life… though it wasn’t like they’d have been exactly the same in the first place._

Some things never changed. _Others did._

At least there were people for her to prank this time around.

Obito had seemingly inherited the stick most Uchiha seemed to have lodged somewhere by the end of their time together.


	2. A Twist of Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura runs into some trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This got slightly darker than I intended to so early on, but the pranks will be coming in the next few chapters.

Air misted in front of her, snow crunching under her boots as she made her way down the street. Winter had well and truly set in, there was no mistaking that. Her gloved hand was tucked in her father’s larger one, their pace painfully slow as they walked towards the park. She hated her short stubby legs almost as much as she hated the baby fat clinging to her cheeks. It made her look ridiculously young, ridiculously innocent, and worst of all, it made no one take her seriously.

She kicked a stone out of her path, a scowl on her face as she wandered through the village. She didn’t particularly want to go and play in the park. It was freezing, the chilly morning air biting into the parts of her face left uncovered by the gigantic scarf she was swaddled in. Her parents were as careful as she remembered when it came to her health, bundling her up in warm clothes to keep the colds at bay. Sakura only wondered how they’d take the news a second time around when she told them she wanted to become a shinobi – one of the most dangerous career paths out there. They didn’t even know she’d already done it before. They wouldn’t know there was no other option for her. Not if she wanted to survive and change things for the better. _Not if she wanted to make them proud… so she’d have something incredible to tell them when she met back up with them in the Pure Lands._

Sakura shivered, cold seeping into her bones as she remembered those _blank pale eyes staring at her flatly, not a single trace of emotion visible as blood sprayed through the air._

“Sa-chan?” Her father’s concerned gaze brought her back to reality. “You wanna stop and get some hot chocolate? It’s a bit chillier than I thought it’d be.” His eyes crinkled up as he smiled, the expression so horrifically familiar that her heart stuttered.

_Sensei bleeding—so much redredredred staining the ground around him—why wasn’t he moving?_

A smile spread across her face, so plastic, so fragile. “With marshmallows?” she asked, the amount of enthusiasm she could muster surprising even herself. _How did Naruto do it all the time? Being cheerful constantly was exhausting._

“That’s the one, sweetie,” he said, guiding her towards the nearest coffee shop. She recognised it fairly easily, having frequented it a fair few times, thanks to its positioning right by Konoha’s largest library. It’d been handy, especially when she’d been pulling all-nighters.

The bell rang, and she entered the quaint little shop, scanning the tables, eyeing up her old corner spot. It was empty. A fair number of the tables were. Still, it didn’t stop the place from being noisy, the quiet hum of conversations reaching her as she stood by her father.

“Did you see her—”

“How’re the kids and—?”

“Hey… isn’t that…”

“Haruno—”

“Haruno?”

“Dude, didn’t you hear about the incident…? It’s the talk of Konoha.”

“—took out a large chunk of his rival’s business—”

“He was taken in for questioning…”

“They’ve cleared him. Poor guy was completely innocent, just hired the wrong person at the wrong time…”

Her eyes narrowed, ideas coming to mind, but those stopped short when she saw the coffee leaking down her father’s face. She glanced at the man behind the counter, her mind blanking as she heard the angry tone of his voice.

_Everyone had been angry, hatred colouring their voices as they leapt towards their deaths—the bodies of their comrades scattered on the ground lifelessly like dominos—they were losing—the world was redredred everywhere she looked—too much blood—skin torn, flesh ripped apart—toes dyed in red, blood crusting under her nails—cold pale eyes staring at her—runrunrunrun—she was getting closer—too close._

Her face was blank, voices ringing in her ears as she tuned back in to the conversations going around them. She couldn’t afford to freak-out there. Not with everyone watching. She needed to blend in as best she could. A delicate balance between prodigy and untraumatized child.

“My wife is dead because of you!”

Sakura stared up at the man shouting at her father, the coffee shop almost silent aside from a scant few conversations in the background. Nobody was even looking at her. All eyes were on her father. They couldn’t see her flat black eyes, or the slight bags under her eyes from a few sleepless nights. They didn’t know about the small thoughts flitting about her head, nor the way the name Hatake Sakumo rang about her skull. _They were turning on her father… blaming him._

_“—even those who’s lives he’d saved eventually turned on him as well.”_

“Anija, it’s not your place to interfere,” a quiet voice hissed, stirring her from the sound of her old sensei. “They can resolve it on their own.”

_Nobody was going to help._

“Never thought I’d agree with you for once, Tobi-chan.”

A low growl was just about audible in answer before a sharp voice cut the sound off.

“Izuna, play nice,” the oddly familiar voice hissed.

“But nii-san—”

Sakura tuned out the conversation, hands twitching as she refrained from exercising the urge to strangle someone, particularly the man in front of them. It was eating into her limited patience. She’d never had much of that when it came to idiots. “Tou-san… can we leave?” her small, high-pitched voice echoing around the stillness of the room.

“You should listen to your daughter, you know,” the man continued, oblivious to the sheer and utter loathing she felt towards him. “Seems she’s smart enough to know when you’re not wanted—”

“Kaa-chan says idiocy is contagious,” she said, casting her dead eyes on the pathetic excuse for a man, cutting him off before he could get another word out. _Naruto had wanted to protect people like him… Sakura didn’t understand him in the slightest sometimes… but that was why he’d been her idiot._ “I don’t particularly want to catch it.”

A choked sound erupted from behind her, a bemused expression appearing on her father’s face as he ruffled her hair amidst the quiet laughter coming from around them. “If it’s what you want, Sa-chan,” he said, wiping the splatters of coffee from his face, the smile on his face never dimming in the slightest.

Her gaze narrowed. _It seemed she had the target of her very first prank…_ The thought brought a smile to her face, teeth bared as she sized the place up on her way out. _She’d be cracking out the orange glitter, and the food dye already. She’d barely been back a day._

“You wanna head home yet, Sa-chan?” her father asked, ruffling her hair. “We can have some hot chocolate there, if you want…”

“Nah.” She shook her head. “Can we stay out a bit longer?”

“Sure thing,” he said, hand still mussing her hair. “Let me just go and visit the restroom… clean this off…”

They wandered towards the riverside, heading for the public bathrooms she knew were located by the stream that trickled through the heart of Konoha. She pulled her scarf closer, rubbing her hands together to stave off the cold, eyeing up the bench as her father instructed her to wait there. She wandered over to the bench, planting herself down, sighing as she stared out across the village. Her hands itched, unwilling to remain idle as she sat there doing nothing – making no progress in her plans. _What was she even meant to do at this age?_ Her tiny body couldn’t stand much training, and her calligraphy skills were just barely passable for all the knowledge of fuinjutsu she had stored up in that not-so-big brain of hers. _She had more time, but her body was too weak, and she was too young to be starting playing politics, not to mention she didn’t have the chakra reserves for any interesting ninjutsu just yet._ Her shoulders slumped, a sigh escaping her lips.

“That’s a heavy sigh for someone your age…” a voice sounded from the bench next to her. “What’s wrong, little blossom?”

Her head snapped around, a familiar feeling stirring in her gut as her chakra flickered. It was swirling around inside of her, unsettled for some reason, and that was never a good thing. She tilted her head, staring into those _blackblackblackblack_ eyes that seemed all too familiar with his bluish-black hair. Sakura blinked, and then his long hair had been replaced by short spiky hair, his clothes becoming tattered pale ones marred by slashes and the blood of fallen comrades, purple rope wrapped around his waist.

_Blood—bodies—rinnegan staring at her—a pulse of chakra—spiky blonde hair stained red—mismatched black and purple eyes flickering open—blood trailing down his cheeks—“Run, Sakura.”_

_“Sasuke…”_ the word came out a choked sob, her face burying itself in his chest, apologies falling hurriedly from her lips as her fingers clawed at the fabric of his shirt.

Dizziness made her vision swim, chakra boiling in her gut, straining at the edges of her miniature reserves. They were full to the brim… nearly bursting, and yet she could feel more and more chakra building. Pain made her wince, her eyes screwed shut, her mind dimly informing her that she’d just messed things up to hell and high water. Not that it mattered. Something was wrong with her chakra.

“—her home. Her chakra will settle naturally—”

Sakura groaned, her eyelids refusing to move. It was like they’d been weighed down with bricks. Her body ached, eyes burning behind closed lids, though she supposed it was lucky. She couldn’t control her chakra in the slightest, and she was fairly certain her newfound sharingan was active.

“—problem among clan children usually—”

She whimpered, sweat beading on her forehead, the cool winter air feeling oddly nice on her skin as she burrowed her head into the chest she was resting against. _Her father’s, if the scent was any indication. It smelt like home… how she’d missed that scent…_

“—probably the worst reaction I’ve ever seen, but—”

Blackness swallowed her up, the pain fading away along with her consciousness, and when it returned, she was safely tucked up in bed. Sunlight was gone, a sliver of moonlight creeping through her curtains as she lay buried in blankets, a cool flannel resting on her forehead. The pink walls were comforting, the soft glow of her lamp casting light on her mother’s face as she sat by her bedside. Grunting, she pushed the covers back, pulling herself up onto her elbows, propping herself up on the pillows as exhaustion clawed at her limbs. _She felt weak. Too weak. She wasn’t supposed to be weak again._

“Sakura…” Jade green eyes bore into her black ones, and then she was pulled into her mother’s arms. “Thank kami-sama… you’re OK…” Her lips pressed against her forehead, the flannel having flopped to the sheets. “I’ll get you some soup. You haven’t eaten anything all day…”

As if on cue, her stomach growled, hunger making itself known as she settled herself back against the pillows propped up around her.

“Sa-chan…” Her father appeared in the doorway, smiling as per usual as he wandered closer, ruffling her hair. “You gave me quite the scare, you know.”

“Sorry.” Her voice cracked, a glass of water appearing in front of her before she could even ask.

“Drink up, kiddo,” he murmured, seating himself down in the recently vacated chair. “It’s not your fault…”

Sakura snuggled back into her blankets, yawning as she stared through the gap in her curtains. The moon was pretty… far too pretty… _especially considering the monster it held back._ She closed her eyes, only opening them again when her mother came back, watching quietly as her parents kept vigil over her bedside.

_She’d missed them. Missed their warmth._

Tears trailed down her cheeks, the soft questions of her parents going unanswered as she ate the soup her mother always made when she was ill. _It tasted like home._

 

::

 

Three days.

She was stuck in bed for three days, and only allowed in the garden for a couple of days after that despite her numerous protests. She felt odd, but her body was completely fine. It was just her chakra which had changed, her reserves having grown exponentially in the few days she’d been bedbound. It raced around her coils, raging and bubbling just under the surface of her skin. She wasn’t used to the feeling. Before, her chakra had been calm and steady, and she’d actually been able to manipulate it to a satisfactory degree.

The well of chakra she’d been able to feel inside her chest only a few days previously had nothing on the literal lake of chakra now swirling around in her gut. It was no wonder everything had hurt. Her chakra levels had gone past the limits of her old body, no doubt thanks to Obito’s DNA and chakra which had seemingly travelled back with her alongside his eyes. She felt slightly stronger, a tad more sturdy, and a whole lot more energetic. There were no doubts she owed that to her new chakra reserves and whatever the hell else their seal had altered.

Narrowing her eyes, she focused her chakra back on the leaf she was holding in her hands as she sat out in the garden. Smoke wafted from its edges, the green blackening as her chakra charred it to pieces – something which had always happened whenever Naruto had attempted the leaf exercise in the past from the sheer amount of chakra he’d always tried to use. Now she was faced with the same problem, thanks to a certain idiot Uchiha who’d clearly drawn their seal wrong.

Scowling, she flopped back against the engawa, staring up at the sky. _Everything she’d taught herself would have to be scrapped in the face of the newest development._ Not even the thought of pulling pranks later that night could pull her out of the slump she’d fallen into. _She was pranking that coffee shop later that night, make no mistake. They’d regret ever insulting her father._ Another leaf went up in a burst of chakra, her expression darkening along with the sky.

“Sa-chan!” Her father’s head popped out around the door. “Dinnertime!”

“Coming!” she sang, pulling herself up, casually sweeping away the burnt remains of the leaves she’d been practicing with as she was swept off her feet.

“Look who I found outside, honey,” he said, holding her up.

“Put her down, dear,” her mother mumbled, the table set as her father carried her over. “She’s just recovered from that nasty… cold…”

Sakura smiled, digging into her dinner with gusto. She’d need the energy when she snuck out later. There were far too many pranks she needed to pull.

_Purple and red—“Live, Sakura.”_

Her smile faded ever so slightly, heart stuttering at the memory. _He’d wanted her to live… so she was. In fact, she was about to pull some rather interesting pranks. Ones which would’ve probably made her boys shake their heads and grin._

In retrospect, she probably should’ve paid more attention to the date, because when she snuck out that night, it was the 27th of December.

The only warning she got was the slight rustle of wind as she pottered down the street, sticking to the shadows like the baby shinobi-in-training she was. Her face slammed into something warm, hard, and vaguely leg-shaped, eyes widening when she was jerked up under someone’s arm.

“What the hell?” a female voice barked, the sheer ferocity in the tone cutting off any protests before they could sound. “Why did you—?”

“Her reserves are gigantic and look at that hair…” the man holding her hissed back, and a horrifying sense of dread settled in her gut as Sakura realised exactly what they’d mistaken her for only seconds before the name was spoken aloud.

“Uzumaki.”

Her eyebrow twitched. _What was it with pink hair and everyone assuming she was related to an Uzumaki?_ Though admittedly she could hardly blame them. She had the same problems as them now: goodbye chakra control, hello chakra tank. If she ever ran into Obito again, she’d prank the living daylights out of him… and possibly punch him in the face. _He’d completely trashed her original fighting style._ Her situation was alarmingly similar to Naruto’s, just without the added furry problem.

Though speaking of Kurama, she couldn’t deny she was curious as to what’d happened to him. _The Fourth Hokage was seemingly alive and well, meaning the fox likely hadn’t been set loose on Konoha – especially with Uchiha Madara being one of the good guys._ Either way, she doubted he’d be becoming besties with Naruto a second time around.

Scowling, Sakura brought herself back to the more pressing issue at hand – the one which had lead to her being thrown in a makeshift sack along with two other bodies she recognised vaguely. Hyuga Hinata, and her previous best friend, Yamanaka Ino. She had no idea how they’d gotten their hands on Ino in the first place, but all that mattered was that they had… and Hyuga Hiashi hadn’t stopped the damn kidnapping from taking place.

Hinata was crying softly, as was Ino, and Sakura was left sitting there, ridiculously confused. This was not going according to plan. Not in the slightest. She was supposed to be training herself up and pranking people on the side. She could hardly do that if she was taken to Kumo. Which meant there was only one thing she could do.

Pull a Shikamaru.

Which, admittedly, was rather hard to do. She had no weapons – a mistake she’d never make again – and no way to manipulate her chakra into a scalpel – her chakra control was shot to hell thanks to an idiotic Uchiha. There was no way she was using those eyes that same idiot had given her. She didn’t have the faintest idea of how to get into the sparkly new dimension she’d inherited, especially with her shoddy chakra control, so turning intangible or warping were out of the question. She couldn’t even use the sharingan at its base level, so mastering the Mangekyou would be a few years off at least.

All she could do was wait for them to take her out of the bag.

Her cheeks burnt in humiliation. _How had she been reduced to this? She, the previous apprentice to the Godaime Hokage, hero of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Master of Medical ninjutsu? She was supposed to be stronger than ever…_

Sighing loudly, she reached over to her unwilling companions in the large cloth sack, taking each of their hands in their own. Pupil-less eyes met hers, one set a pale lavender, the other a familiar crystal blue. Sakura stared at her old friends, lips pulling into a soft smile as she squeezed their hands, black eyes trying to display some sort of reassurance. It was the least she could do, but, like all good things that’d ever happened to her, their little hand holding session soon came to an end.

The bag upended, her back slamming into the cold hard dirt, her hands roughly wrenched behind her and tied in place before she could blink. Sakura blinked. _At least they seemed mildly competent… well aside from the obvious sack which no shinobi worth their salt should’ve missed._ She’d have hated amateurs getting the better of her. It made it sting slightly less. Still, it probably would’ve been better for the situation, rather than her ego, if they had been terrible beginners. They’d have been easier to escape from. As it stood, things were going to be tricky. Very tricky.

“Hachiro, watch them,” the man she assumed to be the leader spoke, and Sakura’s heart leapt. “We need to resupply and cover our tracks if we want to reach the border by midnight.”

Sakura blinked.

It couldn’t be.

It was impossible.

_Was the universe smiling on her?_

_That was impossible_ , she reminded herself. The universe never smiled down on Team Seven. It was one of the many things she’d learnt over the years.

Her eyes flickered over to the man left with them. One man. Better odds. _Now… How to get him closer to where she was sitting?_ Sharp eyes had already found the little pouch attached to his waist, the handle of a kunai poking out the side. That was her way out of the situation – her one chance – because without a weapon any plan was pretty much doomed for failure.

It really seemed like the universe was being nice to her for once though.

And it made her suspicious.

Ino sobbed loudly, an angry expression Sakura recognised far too well written on her fine features. If it were any other time, she’d have happily nudged the girl to get her to shut up, but her words were exactly what she needed. “Tou-san will come,” she declared, pupil-less bright blue eyes glaring up at the man left watching over them.

He was tall, like most shinobi seemed to be – Sakura just didn’t want to admit she was horrifyingly short – with dark brown skin common to most Kumo natives and black greasy hair which fell over his hitai-ate in a messy fashion.

He also, apparently, had a rather short fuse.

A grin curled at her lips, hidden by the hair hanging limply in front of her face. Too bad for him.

She twisted her wrists, one thumb popping out of its socket, a hand slipping free from the tight knots. Wincing ever so slightly, she pushed it back in place, knowing it’d no doubt swell up to twice its original size later.

But she could worry about that then.

She’d had worse.

 _That was right…_ This was nothing.

“Now listen here, brats—” He crouched down, leaning over them menacingly, and Sakura struck.

Her movements were jerky, nothing like the smooth flow of coordinated limbs, her hands small on the grip of the too-large kunai she pulled from his hip pouch. Pain throbbed through her hand as she dug her fingers into the fabric covering his shoulder, yanking herself onto his back as quick as she could.

It was over in a matter of seconds, kunai slicing through the skin of his throat like butter.

Blood spattered over her hands, warm and sticky as the man fell to the ground in front of her, no doubt traumatising her old friends somewhat with the arterial spray. Sakura could deal with that though. She’d lived through an entire war surrounded by blood and gore. A simple slitting of someone’s throat wouldn’t make her throw up, unlike the two child versions of her friends.

“We need to go,” she said, tucking her newly acquired kunai into her pocket as she readied her hands to perform a jutsu she knew very well – thanks to being on the receiving end of it many a times thanks to Kakashi-sensei.

Headhunter.

“Run!” she hissed, glaring her two shocked companions into motion as she pointed at the forest, not bothering to watch as the pair stumbled to their feet. _Who knew how much time they’d have before the other Kumo ninja got back?_

She flew through the hand seals at a painfully slow pace, her small stubby fingers giving her no small amount of trouble before she finally slammed them into the ground, moulding her chakra exactly how she remembered doing.

Of course, the universe just had to decide it hated her in that moment.

Nothing happened.

“You have got to be kidding me!” she hissed, eyes widening as she heard a rustling of leaves. Someone was coming, and Sakura did not want to be anywhere near there.

She turned, sprinting for the forest, ducking into the branches just in time to hear the stream of curses erupt from behind her. The only plan she could think of was to _run like hell_ but they’d catch up in an instant.

All of her jutsu were out.

The ground hadn’t even reacted when she’d pushed her chakra into it, meaning she’d have to reteach herself all the jutsu she’d learnt.

 _Damn this stupid new body,_ Sakura thought bitterly, biting back her own curses as twigs snapped under her sandals. _Stupid Obito… stupid new—_

Sakura froze. _New?_ she mused, her brain working at lightspeed as she pieced together a possible solution – no doubt thanks to the adrenaline pumping through her body. _A different nature affinity?_ Footsteps sounded behind her, and Sakura placed her bets. She had better luck than her Shishou at the least. Her hands moved through the seals practically seared into her brain thanks to her Uchiha teammate.

“Caught you, Uzumaki br—”

Warm chakra bubbled up in her throat, bursting out from her lips as she turned to face her pursuer. The small whimper which escaped her lips was barely audible over the crackle of flames as she poured her chakra into the fire ball spewing from her mouth. Fire exploded outwards, her eyes widening as she realised the mistake she’d made.

She didn’t have her old chakra capacity, and she had zero control over it. Flames licked her cheeks, singing her hair, burning the inside of her mouth and lips. Fire swelled in front of her, exploding through the trees, setting them alight in an instant.

 _She’d had worse,_ Sakura reminded herself, wincing when she moved her lips, the burnt skin protesting every movement she made.

She turned around, continuing her sprint, blinking as she was met with a wall of water. _One thing after another._

Sakura hated her life sometimes.

Water flooded over her, the shouts of people above her muted as she flailed under the surface, carried along by the sheer force behind it. At least until her body slammed into something.

Hard.

Her head cracked back, a different sort of pain stabbing through her temple, before everything went dark.


	3. A Turn of Events

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura: See Sasuke

Arguing was what woke her.

“At least I didn’t set half the forest on fire,” a voice sounded, the tone oddly familiar for a reason she couldn’t place, but it set her instincts on edge. Something about it was wrong. Something about it didn’t belong.

“That was not me,” her portable pillow huffed. “Besides, I’m not the one who got an innocent kid caught up in one of my jutsus.”

“She would’ve been more injured if the flames from that suspicious fire hadn’t been put out. Honestly, use your brain cells. Your head’s there for more than just decoration, you know,” the first voice said, earning another enraged huff from her pillow.

“I didn’t start that fire, snowman,” her pillow hissed. “But I’ll happily start another if you don’t shut the hell up.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

Sakura scowled, head pounding as she pulled at her hair. Her face felt terrible, her skin stiff and cracked in places. It was hard to even move her lips, but the aching in her head only got worse the more the two idiots around her kept arguing. Her eyes opened a fraction, black eyes glaring venomously at the person running along next to her pillow.

“Ah, looks like she’s—”

“Shut up before I eviscerate you,” Sakura snapped, burying her face into the warm chest acting as her pillow as she tried to ignore the stinging burns she could feel thanks to that fire jutsu she’d so foolishly tried to do.

Her pillow started shaking all of a sudden. “Pfft—”

“Shut up, Uchiha.”

Sakura blinked lazily, far too comfortable in her position to bother adjusting herself in the man’s grasp. “Do you think the kid even knows what evisceration is?” His chest vibrated as he spoke, the Uchiha struggling to hold back his laughs – and wasn’t that a surprise… an Uchiha who wasn’t stoic and unapproachable.

Sakura froze. _Oh, that’s right…_ her mind echoed numbly. _She was supposed to be two…_ and for some strange reason she didn’t think many other two-year-olds knew what evisceration was.

_Oops._

_And here she was supposed to be keeping a low profile…_ Sakura grumbled internally. It seemed she was off to a great start. Yawning, she curled up against whoever the hell was acting as her pillow, silently appreciating how warm and comfy they were. Sleep deprivation or something of the sort was getting to her. It had to be. Why else would the man she’d just threatened to eviscerate look like Senju Tobirama?

 

::

 

Sakura yawned, rolling out of bed swiftly, eyes widening when she stared at the flooring she’d landed on. It wasn’t hers, just like whatever room she was in wasn’t her own. She glanced around frantically, rolling into the ensuite bathroom as swiftly as she could, slamming the door closed behind her.

She prodded at her face, memories rushing back as she felt her soft unmarred skin. Her face had been healed. There was no doubt about that… which meant that someone might’ve figured out she’d used a fire jutsu.

The urge to bash her head against the wall was overwhelming. _How could she be so stupid?_ Though, if she argued with herself, she’d say she’d been in a life-or-death situation, so concealing her minimal skills hadn’t exactly been a priority. She wanted to spit fire again, preferably at herself since she’d been an idiot afterwards. She’d been angry and threatened to eviscerate someone. Not exactly typical two-year-old behaviour.

She had passed out after that, and now she was… wherever the hell she was. Sakura didn’t like that – not knowing where or what the hell was going on. She’d have thought she’d wake up in the hospital, or, better yet, safely back at home. But she wasn’t.

Scowling, she eyed a set of clothes hanging on the radiator, blinking as she realised they were about her size. Her eyes narrowed. _Were they for her?_

Cautiously, she pulled them towards her, pawing at the soft material, noting the fact she’d been changed into a set of pyjamas. _Not weird or mildly unsettling in the slightest…_ Just what was going on?

“I suppose these are better…” she mumbled, quickly changing into the shirt and shorts, looking around the room she’d ended up in sceptically. She needed to get out of there and evaluate the situation… or did she? Biting her lip, she scowled. The last thing she remembered was being rescued – there was an Uchiha there, and Uchihas only worked for Konoha… well, unless they went rogue. She couldn’t be anywhere but inside Konoha.

And that meant she had to maintain her cute two-year-old disposition as best as she could, despite her earlier slipup.

“What to do?” she muttered, yawning as she stretched her arms above her head.

She was inside someone else’s house, most likely belonging to either the Uchiha or the other one. The fact she wasn’t tucked up at home with her parents fussing over her meant either they weren’t aware – unlikely since finding out who she was and who her parents were would be a trivial task for a well-trained ninja – or there was something else they wanted from her.

 _Most likely_ , Sakura decided, _her account of the events that happened the evening before_.

“Might as well get it over with,” she said softly, nervously edging out of the bedroom, turning as quickly as she could. Maybe she could get out without anyone noticing?

Of course, Team Seven’s members never had that kind of luck.

She slammed into a pair of legs, wincing as she fell on her backside. Sakura scowled, scrambling back to her feet, annoyed at the person’s lack of aid. He was just standing there stoically. She peered upwards, ready to complain at the idiot for not helping out an adorable little child, but the words died at her lips, her head feeling oddly light as she stared at the silvery hair and the three damning red lines marring his pale face.

Sakura stared at Senju Tobirama.

Tobirama stared right back, red eyes boring into her onyx ones seemingly without a care in the world.

Sakura, meanwhile, was silently plotting Obito’s demise. It didn’t matter that he was already dead, in her old world at least… she’d kill him over and over again for whatever slipup had landed her in this situation.

_What the hell was she supposed to make of this?_

Sakura sighed, a snort escaping her lips. _It seemed she had really threatened to eviscerate her former world’s Second Hokage,_ she mused, eyes rolling back into her skull as she promptly passed out.

 

::

 

When Sakura woke for a second time, she eyed the room she was in. It was still the same one she’d woken in last time, and she was thoroughly freaked out.

It had to have been a dream.

It couldn’t be anything else.

Tobirama was dead. He’d have to be since he was one of the founders of Konoha. He’d be as old as dirt, anyway, not looking like he belonged on the front of a beauty magazine. _That was right. It was just a strange dream…_ Sakura told herself. _It was probably just a sign she shouldn’t go out through the door._ The universe was clearly trying to warn her. _That was it._

It didn’t matter she was wearing the same clothes as in the dream. The impossibility of it was insane.

Smiling to herself, she pushed open the window, clambering out onto the roof. Her eyes locked on the drainpipe, silently weighing up whether it’d support her weight. It looked sturdy enough, especially considering how small and light she was. If she’d been an adult, it wouldn’t have, but then she’d just use chakra to walk down the wall, or jump, depending on how high it was.

_Everything was going to be fine._

Sakura sighed, hands clamping around the drainpipe, carefully shuffling down it with as much grace as she could muster. Down she went, in what was probably the most unladylike fashion. Sakura hadn’t really cared about being a lady much over the later years of the war. It was kind of impossible to be worrying about that when survival was far more important.

“Evisceration girl!”

Sakura’s eye twitched, her mind kicking her out of her thoughts, black eyes narrowing as they met a matching pair.

The damn Uchiha from before.

Who apparently couldn’t remember her actual name…

He was pointing at her, a wide smile on his face, and Sakura just knew she was in trouble. She barely made it halfway back up what she’d slid down before she was plucked off and tucked under an annoyingly pointy chin.

“Put me down!” she hissed, bristling as he nuzzled her fluffy pink hair.

“No.”

Sakura scowled, squirming in his grasp. “Put me down!”

“Not happening, Cherry Blossom,” he said, practically skipping down the hallway. “Wouldn’t want you trying to eviscerate me…”

Sakura twitched.

He was so totally never going to let that go.

“Besides, you need to answer some questions ‘bout what happened yesterday…”

 

::

 

Thirty minutes later with the cheerful Uchiha, with a few guest appearances from the white-haired Senju – proving that it hadn’t been a dream, and that somehow he was still alive – and Sakura was well on her way home.

The sun was low in the sky, numerous other people milling about or on their way home as well, and it was in that rush where Sakura finally spotted one of her old teammates.

Sasuke.

And, to put it bluntly, he was an annoying little shit.

“Why is that ugly girl walking with Izuna-sama?” Sasuke grumbled, glaring at her from his brother’s back. “He’s supposed to be coming over for dinner tonight…”

“Otouto, don’t be rude,” Itachi’s quiet lilt was barely audible over Sasuke’s squawking.

“Nii-san, she has _pink_ hair. PINK!”

Sakura felt her eye twitch.

“It’s the worst colour there is.”

Sakura felt her cheek twitch.

An annoyed grin pulled at her lips, black eyes twinkling mercilessly as she fixed her former best friend in her sights. Previous best friend or not, he was _so_ totally going down. Nobody insulted her hair and got away with it.

“Sasuke… it is rather unwise to insult a girl when they’re in hearing range…”

Her hands twitched.

 _Scratch that_ , Sakura decided. The entire Uchiha Clan was going down.

 

::

 

“Saku-chan…” her father spoke, glancing down at her curiously as they walked through the marketplace the day after Sasuke had (unwisely) insulted her. “That pink hair dye I got you…” he mumbled, glancing at all the various pink-haired Uchiha walking around as quickly as humanly possible. “You didn’t happen to use it on anyone recently… did you?”

Sakura turned to him, well aware of all the ninja ears tuning into their conversation, her face completely blank. “Tou-chan, I have absolutely no idea what you’re going on about.”


	4. The Beginning of the War of Pranks

It took three days before Sakura saw any sign of retaliation from either of her previous buddies, and if Sakura was honest, it was worth the wait. She hadn’t been anywhere near the marketplace thankfully, but she’d heard about it through the village gossip tree. It was odd, she mused, how easy it was for her to go unnoticed. Though she supposed most other two-year-olds didn’t pay much attention to what adults said and did. Naruto and Sasuke certainly didn’t, though they were probably sitting in front of Naruto’s father getting chewed out at all the chaos they’d unleashed by letting loose a bunch of very lively chickens on the market. Sakura was cackling internally by the end of the tale. _So that was how it was going to be…_ Unofficially, she decided, the prank war had begun, and she had no doubts it’d be the most infamous one Konoha had ever seen. Though, really, she hoped her troublesome teammates would be able to up their game. Turning almost every Uchiha’s hair pink had been far more artful and awesome compared to merely setting a bunch of chickens loose on a bunch of civilians. Still, Sakura was hardly going to stop at that… though some of the bigger things she had planned would no doubt have to wait until she’d grown a bit.

Yawning, she trotted down the stairs, greeting her parents as she took her seat at the table. Admittedly, she had to be propped up on a lot of cushions, but it beat being forced into a highchair. Her dignity wouldn’t allow for anyone to witness a sight like that, not even her parents. Her family were modern, especially compared to the Uchiha, who she knew for a fact ate around tables low enough to rival coffee tables. She shuddered at the thought, imagining how cramped her legs would get after kneeling down for hours on end. That was the Uchiha Clan through and through though. “Morning Kaa-chan,” she mumbled sleepily, rubbing at her eyes. “What’s ‘or breakfast?”

“Eggs, and some bacon, if you’re lucky,” her mother said, smiling softly as Sakura squirmed on the cushions until she was comfortable. “Your Tou-chan is just finishing them up now.”

“Can we have pancakes tomorrow?” she asked, knowing that had been a family favourite, her heart panging as she tried to remember the last time she’d had the Haruno Chocolate Chip Special that her father had been infamous for making. Well, infamous within the family. He didn’t make them for anyone else.

“Oh… did someone say they want pancakes tomorrow?” her father’s voice almost echoed around the room as he walked towards them, three plates in hand. “That can be arranged, Saku-chan,” he said, planting a sloppy kiss on her cheek, chuckling uproariously at her disgruntled expression. _How long had it been?_ Sakura wondered, furiously wiping at her cheek. “Looking as radiant as ever, my love,” he murmured so quietly she barely heard, complementing her mother as per usual.

“Don’t forget you’re taking Sakura to the hospital to get her eyes checked after you’ve finished here,” Mebuki reminded him sternly, every inch the domineering, loving mother she remembered. Sakura could remember how her mother had panicked at her first training injuries the last time around. No doubt she’d be getting those far sooner this time – she needed to be strong and waiting until she was in the academy wasn’t exactly going to cut it. Still, she knew she ought to be careful, with creeps like Danzo and Orochimaru around the corner. Sakura wasn’t exactly sure how much of a problem they’d be in this world. Uchiha Madara had been the Second Hokage, and somehow Senju Tobirama was still alive and kicking – and hot as hell if she listened to part of her that she was going to have to keep under control. The adult side of her that knew how to crack sex jokes and flirt. No need for anyone to remark that she had an unnatural inclination for seduction. She did not want to get listed for as a potential candidate for seduction missions at the tender age of two.

“Of course, dear,” Kizashi mumbled, digging into his breakfast alongside Sakura. “I made an appointment for today, and I’ve been meaning to meet up with Atsushi for a while.”

“Oh, Atsushi-san still works at the hospital?”

“Administrative work,” her father said. “He’s the one who slipped Saku-chan in for an appointment after I told him her eyes darkened.”

“He won’t spread that around, will he?” Mebuki asked, a dark expression on her face. “We don’t need anymore suspicion being thrown our way after the incident with the bank… honestly, I don’t know what people are thinking… T&I already cleared us both… the Uchiha have even admitted that they’re making changes to the vetting process after what happened, and you know how Uchiha are with admitting their mistakes…”

“We’ll be fine, dear,” her father murmured, a tentative grin on his lips. “We just need to wait for the worst of it to pass over. It’ll work out… we just need to give it time.”

“They’re already taking it out on our daughter,” Mebuki spat, her voice uncharacteristically cold. Colder than Sakura had ever heard it. Clearly this world was taking its toll on her parents far more than the other had. “Don’t try and lie… it was written all over your face when you came back from the park yesterday.”

“Kaa-chan, I’m fine,” Sakura said, deciding to remind them that she was still indeed present and in the room. She couldn’t say she minded though. She’d just about pieced together something about her new situation, and neither of her parents seemed any the wiser. “I don’t need friends… especially not the kind who’ll turn their backs on me at the first sign of trouble.”

Her parents blinked at her, and Sakura froze. _Was it something she said?_

“Saku-chan…”

She barely got another word out before she was bundled up in her father’s arms, a warm sensation running through her. She’d almost forgotten what her father’s hugs felt like.

“When did you get so mature?” he asked gently, a wave of emotion threatening to drown both of them as they remained like that for a few more minutes. “When did my little cherry blossom start growing up?”

Mebuki smiled. “She’s our daughter. It’s only natural…”

Sakura almost breathed a sigh of relief. Her parents weren’t even the slightest bit suspicious, though Sakura supposed they didn’t really have anything to compare her progress to. Her parents hadn’t arranged any ‘playdates’ for her, nor had they seemed close to anyone in this world who actually had kids. She knew for a fact they didn’t know Inoichi or Nozomi, Ino’s parents, since she hadn’t met Ino ‘properly’ yet… hadn’t befriended her… and Sakura wasn’t entirely sure whether she wanted to. Ino had been a wonderful friend last time around, protecting her from the bullies who taunted her forehead. Sakura wouldn’t need that again. She had her own self-confidence, and a streak of mischievousness she hadn’t had the first time around. Not to mention this Ino had seen her slit a man’s throat open. Sakura wasn’t sure how either of the girls would react to meeting her again. The very thought of it made her want to curl up into a ball and bang her head against the wall. She’d messed up there. She’d messed up big time.

“Well, I suppose she’s already pulled her first prank, so I guess she’s—”

Her mother cut him off midsentence, and Sakura stiffened. Sometimes her father was a complete and utter idiot. Didn’t mean she loved him any less. “What?”

“Oh,” he squeaked. “You weren’t supposed to—”

“Please tell me she wasn’t involved in the Chicken Incident.”

“Of course not,” he said, chest puffing out in pride. “She dyed almost every Uchiha’s hair pink. Pretty good for a Haruno’s first prank, dontcha think?”

“Sakura, please tell me… I suppose that smirk says it all,” her mother grumbled, having spied the minute curve of her lips. “You should be more careful, Sakura,” Mebuki said, serious green eyes boring into her onyx ones. “The Uchiha are a shinobi clan, which means they’re very dangerous, OK?”

Sakura bit her lip, silently wondering whether to ask about it. Sighing internally, she took the plunge. “What’s a shinobi, mama?”

“They’re… well, they’re the ones who protect us and this village from all the bad people,” she explained hesitantly. “Don’t you remember those stories we always told you before bed? The ones where the heroes come and save the day… I suppose you could say that they’re like that.”

“Heroes, huh?” she mumbled. “Kaa-chan… what would you say… if I told you I wanna be one?”

“Absolutely not.”

Sakura scowled. “Why?”

Mebuki pulled her into a hug, setting her down on her lap. “Sakura, sweetie, a shinobi’s job is very dangerous. You probably don’t understand the full extent of what they do… you’re too young to, and I hope you never need to understand what it means to be one.”

Sakura smiled bitterly. Even with her new body, her hands weren’t clean. They’d already been smattered with blood, though it seemed no one realised it. Well, if they did, they were keeping quiet about it.

The Uchiha who’d questioned her about the Hyuga incident had all but glossed over exactly how they’d gotten free. Sakura hadn’t liked that at all. It made her instincts twitch. Though she suspected nobody wanted to dwell on the idea that a two-year-old could slit a man’s throat without bawling their eyes out. Even if Ino or Hinata had told the adults anything, Sakura thought they could be written off as a mistake… that they had misinterpreted how things had actually played out. Of course, there were also her wounds from the events that followed, but again, barely anything was mentioned about them. The burns she’d received from her botched jutsu had been chakra burns – something usually very difficult to heal, but they’d all but vanished by the time she’d woken up, and she hadn’t been out for _that_ long. Her parents had been told she’d been kidnapped, and she’d had to deal with their overbearingness for the next few hours before things went back to normal… and by normal, she meant with her parents dogging her footsteps. She could hardly blame them. Most other two-year-olds would’ve been traumatised for life. Sakura had no doubts Ino and Hinata were, though arguably they were at an age where they might forget the incident ever happened.

“Right.” Kizashi clapped his hands. “Let’s get Saku-chan off to her appointment… we can have a proper talk about this once we get back, kay?”

Sakura sighed. “OK.”

With that, they were off – her father and her – towards a place she was somewhat worried about visiting. It wasn’t like they’d jump to the conclusion that she had the sharingan, would they? It was an impossible conclusion. Neither of her parents were related to an Uchiha, so it was practically impossible for them to figure it out. They were just going to check her vision. That was all, Sakura reminded herself.

She rested her chin on her father’s fluffy hair, grinning in contentment as she stared at the world from atop her father’s shoulders. Sakura could hardly deny she’d missed her parents, but she could safely say she loved them more than ever. Part of her wanted to thank Obito – he’d given her a second chance, another opportunity to see them – to love them again. The other half of her still wanted to kick his backside to kingdom come. She was Haruno Sakura, yes, but she was in an entirely unfamiliar world. One whose future she didn’t know in the slightest.

The hospital was a familiar sight for sore eyes. It was the usual hustle and bustle, just as busy as she remembered from the time she’d worked there. Her father slipped her right through, taking her to the children’s ward and into an examination room.

He stayed with her, answering question after question about her medical history – not that there was much. She was two, nearly three, years old. It didn’t exactly give her much time to build a record. Next came the eye exam, and the curious prodding of the medic’s chakra. Sakura was biting her lip through all of that, heartbeat pounding in her ears, but all her worrying came to nothing in the end. There was nothing unusual, and her sight was fine, so it was written off as an odd occurrence.

She was in and out of the hospital in what felt like a matter of minutes, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, Saku-chan… shall we go and give your mother the good news?”

“Yep,” she mumbled, nuzzling her cheek against the dark pink locks as they wandered back through the streets. Sakura was already planning out her retaliation to the challenge Naruto and Sasuke had set.

 

::

 

“Sakura…” Her mother sighed, shaking her head slowly. “You remember what I told you about _not_ pranking the Uchiha, don’t you?”

She smirked in answer.

Revenge was sweet, though she supposed she was being a bit vindictive taking it out on the entire clan rather than just Sasuke, but she was two. She was allowed to be petty.

They were sitting on the veranda, staring out across the backyard – where Sakura usually slipped out in the evening to drill herself in katas and basic strength training out where her mother couldn’t see her.

“Kaa-chan, I’m not sure what you mean…”

Mebuki prodded at her shoulder. “You can’t fool me, missy,” she mumbled, folding her arms. “But you should really be more careful… they’re shinobi, and they aren’t very happy with this new little prankster on the scene…”

Sakura folded her arms. “They don’t know who that prankster is though…”

“But I do.” Her mother poked her nose.

She smiled slightly. It was kind of obvious who was the one behind the two pranks against the Uchiha. They’d both involved copious amounts of pink – a colour which just so happened to be her favourite colour as well as the colour of her hair.

Pulling off the prank had been fairly easy, and she could still remember the satisfaction she got out of swiping every single one of the police force’s green flak jackets and changing them into a bright pink with the help of her seals.

They even threw off pink glitter when they moved, and coupled with their hair which was staying stubbornly pink no matter what product they put in it… It was safe to say Sakura was very happy with the sight, though sadly, she knew the pink hair dye would mysteriously vanish over the coming days. She’d only timed that seal for a whole month.

She hadn’t been annoyed enough at Sasuke to make a permanent change to their DNA.

That kind of treatment was only allowed for those who _really_ pissed her off.

Still, the Pink Sparkly Glitter Force, as she’d renamed the sign outside what had been formerly the Uchiha Police Force, had sated her thirst for revenge against the duck-butt known as Uchiha Sasuke – her former best friend.

Dimly, she was aware of how terrifying her talent with seals was – how much of an excellent criminal mastermind she could become – but she didn’t particularly want to make anything too dangerous. Just in case something went wrong.

The last time she’d messed around with explosive tags to try and improve them (in her old world, obviously) she’d ended up creating Lake Konoha.

It had become a bit of a tourist attraction, and Sakura could safely say it’d rivalled the size of Konoha itself – hence the name. Of course, that had been before the war was in full swing… the war that ruined everything.

Besides, from what she was aware, Naruto’s mother was alive and kicking, meaning there was a Fuinjutsu Master in the village. Jiriya didn’t count in her mind – he’d refused to teach her anything last time before his untimely demise. If not her, then Senju Tobirama, though somehow she doubted he’d be willing to supervise her. From her brief intel gathering sessions now and then, she knew he was in charge of the Academy. He wouldn’t have time to watch as she created dangerous seals and whatnot that could potentially demolish a village in the blink of an eye. He was already keeping his eyes on enough ‘’troublemaking brats’.

“Kaa-chan… about me becoming a shinobi…” she mumbled, bringing up that topic again. It was something her mother hated, and yet Sakura could feel herself pushing through Mebuki’s wall of hesitance. “I know you hate the idea… but could you at least give it a thought…”

“Sakura…” Her mother sighed, and she could hardly blame her. Sakura had been on her case for nearly an entire month.

“Just, give it a thought… please?”

Mebuki’s shoulders sunk. “You’re as stubborn as your father when you get your mind set on something, you know that, don’t you?”

She grinned sheepishly.

“Give it a few more years, Sakura,” her mother whispered, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in for an awkward side hug. “I want some more time with my baby before she goes and grows up…”


	5. The Retaliation of Uchiha Sasuke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And let the chaos begin...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning - Plot Incoming

Sasuke was not a happy bunny.

His hair had been dyed pink. Pink! Of all the colours somebody could’ve chosen, they went with pink – a yucky girlish colour, similar to what all those creepy girls who were starting to follow him around wore. He’d had enough of the sight, and for an entire month he’d been traumatised by having to see it every time he looked in a mirror. If that hadn’t been enough, then the nefarious (Sasuke had looked in the dictionary until he found the perfect word to describe the new social menace who’d popped up on the scene) prankster had also targeted the Uchiha Police Force and _stolen_ his father’s attention. He hadn’t even bothered Itachi that much, and even though that brought a thrill of satisfaction, it annoyed him none the less. It had been a challenge, Sasuke decided, and conferring with his partner in crime they’d decided it was obvious what was going on. Someone was trying to steal the title of Prank King away from the pair of them.

The war had begun.

Kushina- _sama_ had given them plenty of ideas for revenge, but Sasuke knew they’d have to be bigger and stronger to do them – things like painting the great stone faces, or maybe pranking Izuna-oyaji. They’d need to be able to run away quickly for that last one. Naruto and him had decided they wouldn’t go near Madara-sama with a ten-foot pole. It wouldn’t be worth the lecture, or whatever menial task the punishment would be.

They hoped the new prankster wouldn’t either. Madara would be on all of their cases if that happened.

Sasuke was just glad those two didn’t live in the compound, otherwise they’d have been caught up in The Curious Case of the Pink Uchihas, as it was becoming known by. Then they really would’ve been in trouble, and the new little prankster would’ve been caught within the hour. He was curious as to who it was, of course, but he found himself oddly liking the surprise. It’s be good training – fighting against an unknown assailant with what could be numerous tricks up their sleeves. At least, that was what Naruto and Sasuke told themselves.

Deep down, though, they both knew it was just an excuse to crank the pranks up a notch. An excuse to go _wild._

They had a whole kit they’d been waiting to break in, and Sasuke knew just who he was going to target. If their opponent had managed to sneak around the Uchiha Compound, then he and Naruto would have to slip inside somewhere harder… perhaps where pretty much every clan member had almost three-hundred and sixty degree vision with their dojutsu.

A wicked grin split his lips.

“‘Ruto!” he called, storming towards his blonde friend. “I’ve got an idea for our counter attack.”

 

::

 

A week later, and the Hyuga were not happy bunnies. Not when every bottle of shampoo and conditioner had been laced with sticky dango syrup… but if anyone happened to notice the decline in shininess of the Hyuga hair, then they (wisely) remained quiet.

 

::

 

Sakura yawned, stretching out like a cat as she tried to work the kinks out of her back, cracking her eyes open as she remembered what date it was. _That was right_. It was that time of year again – one where her father had to leave Konoha for an entire week for a formal meetup of all the Haruno branches of the company they ran. He’d told Sakura about it weeks beforehand, chattering on and on about the places they’d arranged to meet up in the past – the climates, the sights, and the souvenirs he’d bring back. He’d promised to bring her back an extra special something that year, and it made his absence a bit more bearable.

There was only one problem that particular year, as she’d soon found out.

Her mother was having to travel outside the village at the same time – and neither of them could rearrange, so it was that very afternoon that she found herself in a situation she’d have much rather avoided.

Her parents might not have been as clued in to child development stages and the like, but they were good parents who knew it wasn’t safe to leave a recently turned three-year-old on her own. Of course, Sakura would’ve been fine, but Mebuki and Kizashi didn’t know that. Didn’t need to know that, either.

Nobody did. That would really give the game away… and make it incredibly obvious who was pranking the hell out of everyone. She thought she was probably clear of suspicion about the pranks for a little while longer. Who would expect a toddler of two, now three, years old to have been the one to dye almost every Uchiha’s hair pink? Toddlers didn’t generally have access to seals, or other pranking equipment, unless they were a baby ninja-in-training or perhaps had a particularly indulging relative who gave them what they desired.

Sakura scowled, eyeing up the door leading to her neighbour’s house. She didn’t like this. She didn’t like it one bit.

“Mebuki-san?” Doe-like brown eyes peered out from the crack in the doorway, the sound of a chain being unlocked before the door opened fully. “And I take it this little one is Sakura-chan?”

Her fingers curled into the fabric of her mother’s skirt. She did not want to be left there. She could hear the noise from her neighbour’s children already and she wasn’t even past the threshold.

“Yep, this is Sakura,” her mother said, smiling slightly at the way she clung to her skirt. “Sorry about throwing this on you so last minute.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it – we’re neighbours,” she said waving a hand dismissively. “I’ve already got everything set up, and I’m hiring a genin team tomorrow for when I’m out.”

Mebuki chuckled, handing the lady Sakura’s bag packed with all her essentials before crouching down in front of her. “Now, Sakura, honey… Try to stay out of trouble, would you?”

“Of course.” She gave her most innocent smile, standing just inside the doorframe, watching as her mother stepped back over the threshold. “I’ll be back in a week.”

“OK.” Sakura nodded, her smile turning into a grimace at the loud yell which pierced at her ears. “See you then…”

“Come on inside.” The woman beckoned. She was young, Sakura realised – younger than her mother, early twenties at most, and she had a daughter her age as she soon found out. “This is Ayumi, my daughter. She’s the same age as you, so try and get along, OK?”

Sakura nodded blankly, trying to restrain the flinch as Ayumi grabbed at her arm, pulling her into the mess of toys jumbled across the floor. In all honesty, she just wanted to curl up in the corner and read. She’d brought along her books, the advanced ones hidden away cleverly by one of her ingenious ideas, and she was going to read them – right after she finished playing dollhouse with Ayumi.

Needless to say, she didn’t enjoy it in the slightest.

Ayumi was cute, Sakura wouldn’t lie, and if she’d actually been three she probably would’ve made a brand new friend right then and there. She had her mother’s eyes, and a mop of dark blonde hair cut in a neat bob. It suited her. She seemed like a mixture of Ino and a few of her old friends. She was bold, always taking the lead, and she refused to take no for an answer. It made Sakura want to scream and hide, but the opposition knew the layout of the house much better than her – so playing with dolls it was.

Sakura was not looking forwards to an entire week of that.

She wanted to be able to explore – to find a nice quiet little reading spot where she could curl up and nap on.

Yawning, Sakura flopped on the futon laid out for her that evening, sighing in contentment when no noise came from the room’s other occupant. She’d been forced to play for hours, just to keep up her act of being a somewhat normal child.

She wasn’t about to let anyone else find out that she usually practiced her chakra control when she was left to her own devices, or that she read books with words too advanced for what a three-year-old was supposed to understand when she thought no one was looking.

Sakura only prayed the next day would be a bit more bearable.

Which the universe clearly heard, and inflicted the curse of Team Seven, meaning that day turned from being a potential good one to the worst one she’d ever had in her new life so far.

She should’ve known from the minute Team Two showed up on their doorstep that things were about to go wrong – very wrong. She should’ve known the curse of Team Seven was about to rear its ugly head and strike. She should’ve run away screaming the second she saw Uchiha Itachi in all his seven-year-old glory. She should’ve listened to all the warnings her tried and trusted ninja instincts were screaming at her. She should’ve paid attention to the feeling of dread building in the pit of her stomach.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she tried to make herself appear like the most boring three-year-old on the planet, scowling internally as Inari Shinko proceeded to baby the pair of them. She tried to be boring and didn’t bother to put up a fight when Ayumi asked the genin team to take the both of them to the park.

She really should have.

Because if she hadn’t gone to the park, then _it_ wouldn’t have happened, and she’d still be living in blissful peace, completely unaware of _his_ existence and all the terror those all too familiar eyes of his awoke inside her.


	6. The Memories of Haruno Sakura

All in all, things weren’t going too badly so far, Sakura decided, watching as Shinko played with Ayumi. She tried to look vaguely interested and not too genius-child as she sat there, watching them play with dolls, politely refusing when they asked her to join in. Sighing, she wished for the day to hurry up and be over with. She wanted to curl up on the sofa and bury herself in some stimulating reading material. As it was, she was bored out of her mind. Tenma had approached her briefly but curling up behind some pillows had quickly halted him in his tracks. She was going the shy kid route, and thankfully it seemed to be working.

“I’m bored,” Ayumi announced all of a sudden, pouting like the toddler she was. “Can we go out to the park ‘n’ play?”

“Sure,” Shinko said with a smile. “Guys! Is everybody OK with us going to the park? Ayumi wants to go out and play…”

Tenma shrugged. “Might as well… It’s not like we need to keep them in the house.”

“Sakura-chan?” Shinko glanced over at her, bringing Ayumi that much closer as she wandered over to where she sat, crouching down so she was level with her. “We’re going to go to the park soon. Sounds fun, right?”

Sakura nodded blankly.

“Let’s go and get your shoes on then!” Shinko said, leading Ayumi over towards the door. “Come on, Sakura-chan.”

Dutifully, she followed, pulling her sandals on, trailing behind the duo in front of her. Getting some fresh air would probably be better than cooping herself up in the house. Her footsteps were muted thuds on the hard ground, wind whistling through her hair as Team Two led the both of them to the nearest park. They led her through the marketplace, Tenma offering a hand to keep her from getting lost in the hustle and bustle. She pointedly ignored it, instead, glancing around the strangely familiar, and yet at the same time completely different, place. She could remember going there before with her own parents, hood pulled up against the heavy rainfall… but there was no rainfall on that day. _So why was that man wearing a hood?_ Her instincts twitched, curiosity burning in her gut as she peered at the stranger. She was nobody she’d ever seen before, and Sakura had a dawning sense of dread. Something was wrong. Something wasn’t right. She didn’t like it one bit, and when the man sensed her stare and turned to face her, she froze.

 _She knew those eyes._ Her face lost all colour, hands shaking until her fingers closed around the handle of the kunai she always carried with her. Blood red. Glowing. Rings and tomoe. Her lips parted, no sound escaping even as she mouthed the word.

_Rinne-sharingan._

Only this man didn’t have a single one resting in the centre of his forehead. He had two, both in place where his ordinary eyes should be. Her shoulders slumped, relaxing when he vanished back into the crowd. _He was gone. She was safe._ Her breath came in pants, her vision blurring as she tried to calm herself down. _He was gone… in fact, everyone was._ Fear flooded through her, her eyes narrowing on the sand underneath her feet. _She knew that sand… the very stuff she and Obito had been trudging across before he sent her off._ A wheeze escaped her lips. _She was back… Why was she back? She wasn’t supposed to be there… she was supposed to be safe. Had the jutsu malfunctioned?_ Sakura trembled.

Kaguya was there, right in front of her, hand extended, reaching for her. Her body reacted on autopilot, slashing the kunai through the hand, eyes wide as red blood spattered across her face. _Was Kaguya always supposed to bleed? Didn’t she regenerate?_

“Sa—”

Her feet stumbled backwards, her back hitting a wall, hands holding the kunai in front of her, as though she could ward the goddess off. _She didn’t want to waste their sacrifices… even if it meant she’d be able to see them all again._

“—ra-chan?”

Her eyes narrowed. She just needed to retreat as best she could… figure out what went wrong and get back to what she was supposed to be doing. Maybe she’d end up in the right universe that time…

“It’s OK. You’re safe.”

Sakura blinked. _That voice…_

“Sakura-chan? Can you hear me?”

She blinked again, fuzziness creeping into her vision as her world distorted, and then the sand under her feet was replaced with hard ground.

“Keep talking to her, Itachi-chan,” a new voice rang out that time. _Genma?_ “She’s calming down.”

She was still inside Konoha. The sand had been fake… she wasn’t back in the desert. She wasn’t about to be killed. Blinking again, she glanced down at the kunai in her hands, noting the smatter of blood on it. _Had she…?_ Her stomach dropped to her toes, bile rising in her throat until she swallowed it back down. Normal three-year-olds weren’t supposed to get PTSD flashbacks. She really sucked with the whole being a normal child thing.

“Sakura-chan…”

Her arms dropped, a small part of her glad she was wearing red as she wiped the blood off as best she could, tucking the kunai back where she’d had it concealed before, her fingers still curled around it. The cool metal gave her an odd sense of comfort, and she’d be damned if she was giving that up.

“Are you back with us?” Onyx eyes stared into her matching ones, and Sakura nodded, not trusting herself to speak. “Can I come closer?”

She stumbled forwards, nodding her head. _She needed to touch someone… needed to know they were real. That this Konoha wasn’t some sort of dream…_ Her arms latched around his neck, legs wrapping around him like a monkey as she attached herself to him. Itachi was stronger than her. He could keep her away from those _redredredred_ eyes that filled her nightmares. Vaguely, she was aware of being carried away, her face buried in the high collar of Itachi’s shirt as she blocked out the world around her.

People had seen her. There had been shinobi blocking her off from the rest of the civilian marketplace, eyes watching her as she’d freaked out. There’d probably been at least one ANBU on the scene. She’d felt eyes on her from the rooftops.

“Sakura-chan…” She felt him sit down, her eyes cracking open as she peered at her surroundings. She was in a park, a quiet one, the whistle of a breeze the only thing she could hear. “Do you wish to talk about it?” he asked, and Sakura shook her head. _Nobody else needed to know. Nobody else could know._ He lapsed back into silence, his hand patting her back awkwardly. How long she sat there, she had no idea, but by the time Itachi got up to speak with the brown-haired girl who’d called him over, she was calm and far more composed. The rest of Team Two were nowhere in sight, no doubt playing with Ayumi, leaving her with Itachi and the other jonin walking towards her.

Shiranui Genma.

He crouched down in front of her, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up on end. The minute his eyes met hers, she knew why. _He wasn’t Shiranui Genma._ A henge, her mind supplied. He was wearing a henge… but why? _Why was he there?_ Those _redredredred_ eyes stared into her own, the black ripples and tomoe making her shudder as she sat there, frozen, unable to call for help.

“You’re not Sakura-chan, are you?”

The quiet question made her freeze, eyes widening. _What did he know?_

“Well… not the one who’s supposed to be here…” he said, resting his head on his hand as he smiled at her – as though they were having a nice conversation. “An itty bitty three-year-old wouldn’t have recognised these eyes of mine… they’re practically a legend…”

Her hands trembled, fingers grasping at the kunai she always kept with her. Nobody had tried to take it away from her, so it’d stayed, and Sakura couldn’t be any more grateful about that. “I… I don’t know what you mean…” she stuttered, heart beating a mile a minute. Something was off about him. _He didn’t belong there… just like her._

“You know… I haven’t had anything all that interesting to do as of late,” he murmured, a lazy grin pulling at his lips. “I’ve just been making sure a few things stay the way they’re supposed to… but then you come along, and now I’m curious.” He sat back. “So curious in fact, that the real me is talking to you. My clone is busy playing with Rama-chan and the fox.”

Ice flooded through her veins. _The fox…_ There was only one thing that could mean…

A loud pop sounded, smoke flaring up in the village well away from where she sat. It was the smoke that accompanied a summons, and the roar that echoed around the streets made her heart stutter. Nine orange tails rose into the air, large jagged white teeth snapping, and then the screaming started.

Her eyes snapped back onto him, heartbeat thudding in her ears, her stomach twisting when she heard Itachi ask the man in front of her to take her to one of the village emergency shelters, before hurrying to help with the evacuation – as was protocol. She looked over, eyeing the Uchiwa on his shirt as he ran away with the brunette, leaving her alone with the perpetrator of the entire mess before she could even scream at him to stop. _She was alone. She’d been left behind to figure things out on her own… as per usual._ She could do this. Her hand closed around the kunai, her teeth clenching as the man’s grin widened.

“So…” he purred, tilting his head, the world seeming to hurry on by while time slowed for the pair of them. “What are you going to do now, _Sakura-chan?_ You can’t punch your way out of this just yet…”

Instinct kicked in before she could blink, chakra shooting down to her legs as she rocked off into the trees of the park. She didn’t care how much noise she was making, nor how much bark exploded underneath her feet from her lacking control. The only thing that mattered was getting away. He was dangerous, and Sakura was nowhere near a level where she’d be able to comfortably take him down. She hadn’t even solidified her new fighting style.

“Run, run, as fast as you can, little rabbit,” his voice sounded, and it was far too close for her liking. “And when I’ve caught you, I’ll make you answer all of those questions I have, little not-Sakura…”

Her throat felt bone dry, mind racing as she tried to think of what she could do. No ordinary shinobi would be able to take him down and leading him to them might end with all of them dead. _His focus was on her. She needed to be the one to deal with him… but how…_ Every single Hokage was still alive for some reason… though they’d likely be busy with the fox. _Could she evade him for that long though?_

Somehow she doubted it. Maybe she’d be able to hide away in the kamui dimension… but she had no idea what abilities he had, and she didn’t really want to cut herself off from the only sort of help she might be able to get. She jumped from the forest and onto the roof of a nearby building, dropping down to street level in the blink of an eye.

_So…_

Either she needed to defeat him… _not possible at her skill level…_ or injure him badly enough that he needed to retreat… _she doubted that was possible either, but it was her best option…_

She bit her lip. Her large chakra reserves would come in handy – very handy – and a small part of her thanked Obito for that. She had more options, even if her chakra control wasn’t up to scratch. She might’ve been able to last a whole thirty minutes using the sole jutsu she knew – the fireball one – but somehow she doubted it’d be enough. She needed something else… something to prolong the time she had… _a weapon…_

“Awww… Saku-chan…” his voice rang out again, closer that time. “You can run, but you can’t hide, sweetie…”

Sakura bolted, eyes wide as a foot slammed down in the space where she’d been only seconds before. _She was dead, she was totally dead…_ Her heart pounded in her chest, adrenaline racing through her as she leapt off the walls, onto the roof, and swiftly back into the shadows of a nearby alleyway. _She was running out of time._ A glint of metal caught her eye, hands automatically grasping at the discarded tanto she’d been able to find. It was a large weapon for her small form, but it was certainly better than nothing. Sighing, she slung it onto her back, sprinting away as she felt the tell-tale signs of being watched. She was being played with… like how a cat played with its food.

Biting her lip, she went back to her mental calculations. She’d need to use her sharingan, there was no doubt about it… but he’s spoken about her like he knew her… knew what she was supposed to be capable of – and it sounded exactly like that of her last life. Her mind worked overtime, and Sakura knew she had to hide her sharingan, particularly if she was going to use Mangekyou. She had little doubts that he’d recognise it as Obito’s, given everything he’d seemingly known about her… and that meant he’d know exactly what it was capable of. She needed the element of surprise on her side for as long as possible. Using Mangekyou would also drop her fighting time to something closer to ten minutes of periodic use… Her basic chakra enhancement would drop that to about five minutes of decent fighting time in which to enact her plan. Time wasn’t on her side. Not in the slightest.

She was going to have a severe headache after everything, she knew. She wasn’t used to the sharingan, and it gave her brain a horrifying workout whenever she tried to process everything that was happening – seeing movement before it actually happened and working out how to counter it. At least she’d be somewhat immune to any genjutsu the man might throw at her with it active. A headache was a price she was willing to pay if it meant getting out alive.

A plan was slowly forming in her mind, a small smile curling at her lips as she plotted. She didn’t have time to come up with back up plans of back up plans. She only had one idea, and she prayed that the universe had thrown enough bad luck her way for that day.

Kaguya had been able to regenerate parts of her body, though Sakura wasn’t too sure whether it was an ability of the rinne-sharingan or being the ten-tails jinchuriki. Personally, she’d bet on the latter, but she was taking no chances… and that meant if she was going to injure him, she was going to have to go after his eyes… and she needed to do it soon. The longer she ran, the more chakra she wasted, and she’d need every last drop of it if she wanted to even have a chance of walking away from him.

Her footsteps slowed, feet skidding to a stop on top of the roof, her gaze locking on the figure chasing her. He was close, and she was only going to get one chance. One chance where he underestimated her. One chance where he had no idea that she had the sharingan.

She clenched her teeth. _Here went nothing…_ she mused, eyeing the grin on his face as he realised she’d stopped running. Her eyes narrowed, open just a crack so she could see – and so the irises of her eyes were barely visible.

“And here I thought you’d run a little longer…”

Her feet dug into the tiles, chakra boosting her leap as she sailed towards him.

“Really?” he asked, scepticism lining his voice, his hand reaching out to grab at her throat. “A frontal assault… how foolish—”

She poured chakra into her eyes, instinctively knowing how to use kamui. His arm passed through her, continuing on its path to grab at what was no longer there. The tanto was heavy in her grasp, but it was everything she needed as his other arm came out to grab at her as she rematerialized. _Too late,_ she thought, the sharp blade slicing down through his eye. Her foot slammed into her chest, chakra instinctively flooding the area as she pushed herself away as quickly as possible. Her hands moved through the signs burned into her brain, hot chakra flowing from her lips, sending a fireball his way as she leapt away, racing for cover.

 _She’d done it._ Relief flooded through her. _She could get away._ Her head turned, eyes scanning the road behind her. _He was nowhere in—_

She slammed into the body in front of her, turning around, apology on her lips, but it died before it could even leave her mouth. He was there, standing right in front of her, black shoulder-length hair swaying in the breeze.

Her plan had worked somewhat, and that was the problem.

The red line marring his eye was proof of that much. The wild grin on his lips less so.

“You know… it’s been a while since someone’s injured me,” he murmured, wounded eye screwed shut as blood leaked down his face. “My brothers and their friends were the last to do so… and look at where they are now.” His hand rested under her chin, lifting her eyes to meet his as she trembled, knowing she was in trouble now. She’d injured him, yes, but he wasn’t running away like she’d wanted. “We’re basically gods.”

Her mouth opened before her brain could stop it. “What?”

“You could probably become one too… if I’m correct in my assumptions… Strive for godhood, little not-Sakura…” he purred, his grin widening even further, and Sakura wished she could use the Hirashin. _What she wouldn’t give to disappear right then and there…_ “You’ll find it in the Lost Temple of Uzushio… well, if you’re not afraid of death, that is… though I’d advise growing up a bit before you do.”

She blinked. “Huh?”

He sniggered. “Well, now I’ve said my piece…” His hand closed around her arm, his grip tight. “You’ve injured me… so I think it’s only fair that I injure you too,” he said, snickering as the sound of snapping bone met both of their ears.

She stared at the strange angle her arm was, pain radiating through her, blinking as she was tossed into the air, barely able to react in time for the sudden blow to her stomach. Her chakra barely cushioned the impact, and Sakura could hear her ribs creak, chakra flaring to her back, taking the edge of the collision with the wall behind her. Only it wasn’t the only wall she was hurtling through. _He was strong. Ridiculously so._ She was fairly sure she’d been punted through at least five as she continued to sail backwards from the sheer force of the blow he’d delivered. Her vision blurred, chakra reserves dropping lower and lower with each subsequent impact, relief flooding through her when she finally made contact with the hard ground, tumbling back as she tried to take the edge off the hard landing.

“Sakura-chan!”

Blinking, she tried to clear the fuzziness from her vision, eyes widening when she heard the whistle of kunai coming towards her. She couldn’t move, her eyes slamming shut as she braced herself for the pain. Arms wrapped around her all of a sudden, her broken arm slung across her lap as she was snatched out of the way and tucked into someone’s chest. Groaning, she slumped into them, head lolling as the buzzing in her ears only grew worse.

“Oy, kid, stay awake!”

Her eyes cracked open, spots appearing in her vision as she caught sight of a white fuzziness leaning over her.

“Evisceration girl!”

Sakura blinked slowly, eyeing the black blur where the voice had come from. _Izuna?_

“Evisceration?” A third voice sounded. _A familiar voice_. “What the—”

“She has pink hair, and she once threatened to eviscerate Tobi while she was half-asleep… it was so cute, and memorable.”

Sakura snorted, eyes rolling back into her skull in the next second. _Yeah, nope. She’d had her fill of insanity for the day, thank you very much._


	7. An Eventful Day in the Life of Uchiha Itachi

Itachi had thought it’d be like any other day – wake up, take a mission with the team, complete it, come home, get lectured about clan pride, sleep, and repeat. He’d woken up, pulled on a traditional high-collared shirt with the gigantic Uchiwa sewn on the back, greeted his mother and father before eating breakfast and heading off to the mission assignment desk.

“Babysitting?” Tenma’s voice was all he could hear as the older boy complained for what must’ve been the thousandth time. “Again? Seriously?”

“Stop being a baby,” Shinko, ever the violent peacemaker, hissed. “We’re going to babysit an actual one, so we won’t have any time for your antics.”

“Oh, and Tenma-kun,” Yuki, their mildly mannered sensei, said, glancing over at the grey-haired boy. “Please try to refrain from dropping any kids on their heads this time around. We are actually getting paid to do this.”

“But it’s _so_ boring… why can’t we do something fun? Like a C-Rank mission for once…”

“We just need to complete this mission, and then we’ll be qualified for a C-Rank, OK?” Yuki-sensei said, sighing quietly as Tenma leapt around, like some sort of bunny on caffeine. “Besides, this time there are only two kids to look after – and one of them is their neighbour’s kid. They can’t be too much trouble.”

Itachi raised an eyebrow at that comment. “How old are they, sensei?” he asked, curious as to whether they’d be looking after crying babies, crawling terrors, or a couple of inquisitive toddlers.

“They’re both three-years-old, so we won’t need to worry about changing nappies. It’s more about making sure they’re entertained and keeping an eye on them so they don’t get up to too much mischief,” he explained, leading them away from the mission assignment desk and towards their destination, which turned out to be a quaint little house in one of the many purely civilian districts of Konoha. Together, they knocked on the door, all of them smiling politely – or in Tenma’s case, scowling – as a frazzled woman opened the door. She’d clearly been waiting on their arrival, so her instructions came out as a jumble.

“The blonde is my daughter, Ayumi, and the pink one is my neighbour’s daughter, Sakura. I’ve made them lunch, and it’s on the top shelf of the fridge… Ayumi usually eats around two o’clock, and Sakura seems content with that, though I’m not too sure what Mebuki-san usually does…” she said, letting them inside the house, entrusting them with the spare key, just in case Ayumi wanted to go to the park. Apparently she liked them.

Itachi just blinked placidly as the woman rushed past them at civilian speeds. _It seemed it was time to meet the kids they’d be looking after for the day._ He glanced between the two tiny humans. The blonde one he didn’t recognise in the slightest, but the pink-haired one he did vaguely recognise – she was the one his foolish little otouto had insulted. _Her hair colour was also suspiciously the same as all the Uchiha’s had been dyed, but that had to be a coincidence. She was three-year-old. No three-year-old could pull off a prank of that calibre. Even Naruto and Sasuke weren’t on that level, and they were receiving instruction from Kushina-san – Queen of Pranks._ Besides, if he were to pick either of the two to look after, he’d have preferred the pink one. She seemed quieter and slightly more subdued. _If he was completely honest, the unamused expression on her face was rather funny, especially when Shinko dragged her into playing with dolls._ The only mildly alarming thing about her was probably the kunai tucked safely into her pocket, which both he and his sensei had clocked. _Still, he’d heard about the Hyuga-Yamanaka Incident… He’d also heard rumours a pink-haired civilian child had been mixed up in the ordeal, and Konoha didn’t have many of those._ Still, kunai or no kunai, everything was fine.

Up until the park.

The walk was quiet, Shinko and Ayumi walking along in front of them. Everything was quiet, everything was calm, until the little girl walking beside him mouthed a word he couldn’t quite work out.

“Sakura-chan?” He turned to face her, eyes narrowing at her shallow breaths and unfocused eyes. “Sakura-chan? Are you alright?”

Tenma scowled. “What’s wrong?” he asked, reaching for her before Itachi could stop him.

_It wasn’t his hand Sakura was seeing,_ he realised as the kunai lashed out quicker than he thought possible for a small untrained child.

“Tenma, get away from her,” he said, crouching down a short distance away, calling her name softly as their sensei and a few other shinobi nearby came and kept the civilians away from the unfolding panic attack of sorts. “Sakura-chan? You’re OK…” he called, voice soft as he stared at her. _Wasn’t there supposed to be an age limit for panic attacks and PTSD flashbacks?_ Silently, Itachi wished there was. Children as young and civilian as Sakura was shouldn’t have had panic attacks. Not ones as dangerous as that very one was turning out to be. “Sakura-chan? It’s OK. You’re safe,” he said, eyes fixed on her own, silently wishing he could already use the sharingan. _It’d be much easier to calm her down that way… though he had no idea how she’d react to a sleeping genjutsu. Genjutsu wasn’t great to use on young kids. He’d been lectured on that enough to be sure of that fact._ “Sakura-chan? Can you hear me?”

She blinked again, looking slightly more alert, and the smallest bit confused.

“Keep talking to her, Itachi-chan,” a voice sounded nearby, a familiar senbon hanging from the mouth of the speaker. Genma was there. _Genma was good with kids._ “She’s calming down.”

“Sakura-chan…”

Her arms dropped to her sides, wiping the small traces of Tenma’s blood off on her red shirt. _Shinko had already dragged his other teammate off, along with the other girl they were meant to be looking after. He was fairly sure his sensei had followed them, leaving him to deal with the mess Sakura had made – not that it’d been her fault. He knew too much about flashbacks. Any shinobi worth their salt did, so not a single one of the shinobi surrounding them were judging the poor girl._ If anything, they probably felt they hadn’t done their job correctly. As Hashirama-sama and Madara-sama liked to remind them, Konoha was there so children as young as Sakura weren’t forced to pick up kunai and learn how to fight. The kunai vanished back into her pocket, hand still closed around its handle, but she looked far more alert… _like she was actually with them._

“Are you back with us?” he asked, Genma nudging him closer. Onyx eyes met his, staring at him intently – solemnly, before she nodded. “Can I come closer?”

Instead of answering, she stumbled closer, hands outstretched, and Itachi obliged. _She was around Sasuke’s age… so what the hell had she seen?_ He bit his lip, remembering the kidnapping. _Perhaps she needed to speak to someone?_ Her arms latched around his neck, legs wrapping around his waist as his own arms tightened around her.

“I think you might want to take her somewhere quiet,” Genma said, pointing him the direction of a nearby park as Sakura buried her face in the high collar of his shirt. _So the high collars were useful for something after all._ He hurried towards the nearest bench, ready to sit down and have a somewhat private conversation with her. _She seemed oddly mature for her age… Shisui would probably have a field day with her. She was alike him in some ways._

“Sakura-chan.” He sat down, watching as her eyes cracked open, examining their surroundings cautiously. “Do you wish to talk about it?” he offered, and Sakura shook her head stiffly. _Probably not comfortable enough to spill her life story to him._ He lapsed back into silence, quietly patting her back gently. _He didn’t know what else to do… besides, she was definitely calming down._

“Itachi-kun?” Izumi’s voice dragged him out of the stupor he’d fallen into.

“Izumi-san?” He looked at her, tilting his head in question.

She glanced at Sakura, awkwardly looking away, gesturing towards the entrance to the park. “Can we speak in private?” she asked, shifting awkwardly on her feet, looking oddly relieved when they trekked towards the park entrance. “Your mother wanted me to deliver some news—”

The sudden loud pop cut her off, the familiar cloud of smoke accompanying a summon making the silence fall seconds before the loud roar cut them off.

“That’s—”

Itachi narrowed his eyes, pushing everything but the orders drilled into his brain by his father and his sensei. “We need to evacuate everyone – that’s our job as Genin.” _The adults would handle the Kyuubi._ He glanced back at Sakura, blinking as he saw Genma approaching her. _Genma could handle her. He’d get her to safety._ Turning, he ran towards the crowd of civilians, Izumi following close behind as he began helping guide Konoha’s citizens to the caves and shelters they used in times of emergency. “Izumi-san, you can tell me what mother wished for you to say to me later,” he said, stopping to aid an elderly lady to her feet. _Everyone was panicking… but Genma was…_ Itachi blinked, glancing at the rooftop where the senbon-chewing shinobi stood, instructing the lot of them. A quick application of chakra had him up there too, a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach. “Genma-san,” he spoke, silently praying his feelings were wrong for once. “Where’s Sakura-chan?”

“Sakura?” Genma tilted his head. “Oh, you mean the cherry-head?”

Itachi nodded.

“You left with her, didn’t you?”

Itachi swallowed, biting back curses as he swivelled on his heel, racing back towards the park. _It hadn’t been Genma. They’d been under a henge, and he should’ve realised it. He was an Uchiha. Genjutsu was supposed to be their specialty._ He skidded around the corner, racing through the entranceway to the park, heart almost stopping when he found it empty.

Sakura was gone. _His charge was gone._

_And it was all his fault._

He backed away, leaping up onto the roof, surveying the area as best he could. _Where could she have gone?_ His eyes narrowed. _Where could she have been taken to?_ Pink hair wasn’t exactly hard to spot. _And yet he couldn’t see her._ Scowling, he dropped back to street level, hurrying down the road, eyeing every inch of every back alley with his unfortunately ordinary eyes. _She might’ve been hiding somewhere… though the possibility was slim._

“Itachi-chan?” The voice dragged him out of his frantic search.

Startled, he turned to greet its owner, blinking owlishly up at Izuna. “Izuna-san,” he said, his gaze flickering over the imposing figure of Uchiha Madara, and the equally frightening Senju Tobirama standing next to him.

“What are you doing here?” Black eyes narrowed on his matching ones. “You should be helping evacuate the civilians or getting to safety yourself.”

“No time…” he whispered. “You haven’t seen a small pink-haired little girl around here, have you?” he asked, staring between the three of them, the crinkle in his forehead deepening at their blank looks. “I think—”

The explosion of brick and wooden fencing behind him cut him off.

Itachi spun, eyes wide, kunai at the ready, even as Izuna appeared in front of him with a low curse. He scanned the area now in front of him, arm falling to his side, slack, as he spotted the riot of pink hair sprawled across the ground. “Sakura-chan!” he yelled, tightening his grip on his kunai as he readied himself to run over.

Tobirama beat him to the punch, materialising next to his charge, scooping her off the ground and hurrying back over to them, deftly avoiding the kunai sailing towards them both. “Oy, kid, stay awake!” he muttered gruffly, settling her back down on the floor gently.

He bit his lip, gaze darting between the newly installed gap in the fencing and Sakura’s bloodied and beaten form. _Who would do that to a child?_ His lip curled in disgust. Even from his limited medical knowledge he could tell that her arm was broken, and likely a few ribs too. _It was a miracle she’d survived the impact of the wall._

“Evisceration girl!” Izuna yelled.

Itachi blinked. _What the hell did Sakura have to do with evisceration?_

“Evisceration?” Madara voiced his thoughts, eyes fixed firmly on the mess behind them, body tensed, ready to fight. It happened in the blink of an eye, his shoulders slumping ever so slightly along with Tobirama’s as whatever threat they’d perceived vanished. “What the—”

“She has pink hair, and she once threatened to eviscerate Tobi while she was half-asleep…” Izuna gushed. “It was so cute, and memorable.”

Itachi blinked again. _Well, there went his nice, sweet, innocent image of Sakura in his head…_

“Shut up, Izuna,” Tobirama barked, hands glowing green with medical ninjutsu as he hovered over the unconscious girl like a fretting mother hen. “I need to take her to the damned hospital thanks to that man.”

“Why the hell would he even attack a child?” Madara scowled. “It’s nothing like him…”

“Don’t look at me,” Tobirama muttered. “I have no idea what goes through his head. You’d probably have a better idea than me – he’s your family.”

His scowl darkened. “Unfortunately so.”


	8. A Trip to the Hospital

_Beep._

The sound greeted her as she cracked her eyes open, a blur of a room drifting in and out of focus marginally. _Where was she? What happened?_ A fuzzy figure loomed over her, words just about audible over the buzzing in her head.

_Beep._

“—drifting in and out… probably won’t wake up properly anytime soon.”

Her vision darkened, blackness creeping in, pulling her back under the intoxicating waves of sleep. She liked sleep. Sleep was good.

_Beep._

“Her parents?”

“Apparently they’re both away on an—”

_Beep._

“Look her eyes are opening!”

“I can see that, now quieten down.”

“But nii-san—”

_Beep._

“—should wake up soon now, otherwise—”

“She’ll be OK, won’t she?” a small voice asked. “Nii-san keeps coming to visit her… said it’s his fault she’s like this.”

“It’s not your fault, Itachi.”

“But I left her… if I hadn’t left her…”

_Beep._

Sakura blinked languidly, her limbs feeling like limp noodles as she cracked open her sleep crusted eyes to stare at the ceiling. The painfully white sterile ceiling that wasn’t her own. Her heart thudded, the loud beeping speeding up as she tried to push herself to a sitting position, a loud whimper escaping her as she flopped back to the bed. “Wh—” Sakura coughed, hand going to paw at her horribly dry throat.

A cup was pressed into her hands, and she drank blindly, swallowing immediately once she recognised the cool crisp water. _Nothing that would harm her, but there was never any harm in checking._ Especially given her clinical surroundings, which she soon realised to be a hospital room. She was in a damned hospital room. _Why?_ She blinked, staring down at her casted arm, shivering as she remembered the ease with which it had been broken. _Why couldn’t anything ever be simple?_ Her eyes narrowed. _Clearly there was more to her new dimension than what met the eye, and not all of it was good. Sure, all of the Founders were still good and loyal to the village… and there in lay her issue._ She didn’t know who the bad guys were this time around. Not that she was complaining about certified battle god Uchiha Madara being on their side for once. _At least she wouldn’t have to come up with ways to overcome that brick wall, but now there were plenty more hurdles, if her memories were still good and true._

She chewed on her lip. The man had said he was basically a god… and that he had friends and family who were also at that level… _and he’d said she could reach that level too…_ She swallowed, too caught up in her thoughts and worries to register the presence at her side until they cleared their throat pointedly.

“Oh, thank—” the words died on her lips, and she took another sip of her drink as she stared into the red eyes of Senju Tobirama.

“You’ve woken…”

Her mouth moved before she could stop herself. “Clearly.”

His lips quirked in amusement. “Right on the end of my shift too,” he mumbled, just as a sharp knock at the door – and Sakura blinked, realising she was in a private room rather than on one of the busy wards. “Madara will be taking over from here, so please do pester him.” His hand mused in her hair, a warm smile on his face that likely would’ve reassured any child aside from her. “And don’t worry. His bark is worse than his bite.”

Sakura blanched. _What?_

She only had a moment to take in the sight of the spiky-haired Uchiha at the doorway before—

_Glowing purple ringed eyes, and that demonic laughter—deranged smile—redredredredredred—an inky black hand piercing his chest—white long hair whipping out, curling around blonde and black—milky eyes opening—long dress flapping in the wind—sensei dying—redredredredredred—his voice before it all telling her—_

“Deep breaths, you hear me, follow me – in, and out… in, and out…” Hands rubbed soothingly at her single exposed wrist, grounding her as best they could.

_Everything for peace—so why was the world stained redredredredred?_

Sakura blinked, staring down at her crystal clean hands. There wasn’t a single drop of blood in sight. There weren’t any purple eyes. There weren’t any sharingan spinning either. No. Just a pair of normal red eyes watching from the doorway, and a pair of plain black ones much like her own staring at her from his half-crouched position in front of her.

“Are you back with us now?” Uchiha Madara asked, tilting his head curiously.

She slumped back on the bed, pulling the covers over her head in an instant, hiding under her sheet as her heart pounded furiously as the pair of adults in the room started talking in hushed tones.

_Not good… not if they started asking why she was traumatised…_

“Seems you look too much like him… do I need to stay longer, or should we ask Obito and Kakashi to take over?”

“Would sticking any Uchiha in the room with her be a good idea… you know, _considering just who the hell she was attacked by_ …?” Madara hissed, and Sakura almost slumped in relief.

 _She actually had a legitimate excuse to be traumatised._ Her lips curled, a snigger escaping her before she clamped her mouth shut. _Well, she didn’t want them to be too concerned. Hysterical laughter usually wasn’t the best sign regarding mental health._

“Anija would either be the best, or he’d traumatise her further…” Tobirama mumbled, and Sakura cautiously stuck her head out from under the sheets shielding her. “That’s a fifty-fifty… though to be honest, you handled that panic attack fairly well, so you might be the next best option.”

“Of course I did. What do you think of me?” Madara scoffed. “Wait. Don’t answer that.”

One white eyebrow rose.

“Don’t give me that look, Senju!” he snarled, and Sakura watched on eagerly as the drama unfolded. _Truly, Uchiha Madara looked like a completely different man._ Gone was the red armour, green flak jacket in place. The long mantle was still there – that was apparently a staple for Uchiha, but it was darker than the purplish colour it had been, with the Uchiha mon stitched on the sleeve. _It was certainly a better look than the red armour would’ve been. She’d have had nightmares if that’d been the case._ “I’m just saying that I don’t want her to freak out again or have another episode… especially since I was the cause.”

“Well look at you, you big softie—”

Madara screeched in outrage. “Shut up, Senju,” he hissed, hands fisted in the taller man’s collar. _Not that it had anything on the collar of every single Uchiha robe._ “And cover up your damned collarbones, you exhibitionist! There is a child present.”

“Says the one yanking on my shirt.” Tobirama snorted, shaking his head. “Prude. Will you be alright on your own, then?”

“I’ll be fine, obviously. Don’t question my competency in keeping a child safe,” Madara huffed. “Now get going. Goodness knows you don’t get enough sleep as it is, you damned insomniac. Now go. Shoo! I don’t need your brother on my case about keeping you from getting your beauty sleep. Hashirama is annoying enough as it is.”

“I’m going.”

The door shut with a quiet click, and those dark black eyes finally found their way back to her own. He sat down in the nearest chair, the awkward, tense silence filling the space between them. Her only consolation was that Madara looked as uncomfortable as she felt as she stared at him.

“So…” Sakura stiffened at the sound of his voice. “You’ve had quite the trying week.”

Sakura blinked, testing out the stiffness of her limbs, scowling as her weakness confirmed his words. She’d been out for a number of days, _which was probably why the discomfort of her arm wasn’t as noticeable_ – it had been healed a lot with various medical ninjutsu and more rudimentary methods as were commonly used on children.

“Is there anything you, uh, want to talk about?” He scratched at his face, coughing awkwardly. “I mean, you don’t have to… but the option is there…”

She paused, tilting her head as she stared at him blankly. _Was there really anything she wanted to ask him? What would an ordinary child do?_ Her eyes narrowed. _Probably not stare him out like a creep,_ her mind snarked. _There was nothing she needed from—_

Sakura looked at him. “Do you know who the man that attacked me was?”

He nodded. “A very dangerous S-Rank criminal.”

 _No name to go with that…_ and judging by the expression on his face, she wouldn’t be getting one anytime soon. _She doubted Madara would know why he was so interested in her. In fact, she’d be the one more likely to know that… So the only real burning question she had was…_

“Then do you know what he has to do with the Lost Temple of Uzushio?”

His grip on the armrests of his chair tightened, and Sakura stiffened. The change was minute, his jaw clenching ever so slightly, his eyes haunted before he snapped back to the reality in front of him. “I’m afraid not… did he speak to you about this temple at all?”

Sakura shook her head. _Clearly the topic was a sore one._ “No. He just mentioned it in passing before he threw me through some walls,” she said blandly, blinking at the disturbed look she got in response. _Oh… most other children didn’t talk about getting thrown through walls as one did about the weather. Oops._

“Anything else you’d like to know?” he enquired, almost expectant.

She shook her head again, musing over the numerous strange looks he’d sent her way in their short, and vaguely informative questioning session. _Maybe he was expecting her to ask about something else… but what?_ Sakura lay back down, pulling the covers up to her chin. Maybe the answers would come to her later…

**Author's Note:**

> Sporadic Updates.
> 
> Additionally, if you're wondering about the relationship tags, especially that first one, most of those relationships are going to be ridiculously slow burn. Pay attention to the tag titled 'Curses' too, it's there for a reason, and describes why the Founders are there and unaging. Don't be expecting any romance in this for the first part -- once I get that far with the writing, I'll probably break this up into two parts, focusing before and after a certain event I have planned -- so please preferably don't ask me how I'm going to make that tag work. I have a plan, and I think it's a fairly decent one which will make the whole relationship seem as natural as possible. Yes, there is an age gap, and if you are uncomfortable with that, then feel free to leave. In some ways, I figure this is similar to those Vampire AUs with the ridiculous age gaps... but people for the most part seem to think those are OK.
> 
> I'm fairly uncomfortable with writing teacher/student relationships, so this is me pushing myself out of my comfort zone a bit. However, being me, I've drawn the line somewhere. Sakura will be an adult by the time she gets interested in any sort of romance. Sure, there may be attraction to different older people and sudden awareness when puberty rolls around, but I figure that's sort of natural-ish and can be viewed as harmless. In the begining, make no mistake, Madara sees Sakura as a child ergo no romance, so if he decides that she's his favourite student in this period, it's purely because she causes him the least amount of headaches.
> 
> This is also on my first note in this work, but seeing as some people might not read it again, I've put this in the end note too.


End file.
